The Seven Rings and Me
by Krissey-da-Cougar
Summary: I, Crystal, am at the library, until I find a book called the Arabian Nights but with Sonic on the cover! Upon much thought, I decide to go into the world of Sonic and the Secret Rings...and soon learn that it may be the biggest mistake of my life...
1. Prolouge

It seemed like another day at the library. Oh, how I loved books. I loved anything that dealt with words. Stories, writing…well, writing, mainly. Writing was my dream. I wanted to become one of the best writers there ever was, and so, I started with writing simple things. Fanfictions. Soon, writing fanfictions became my passion. I wrote many stories—some of my favorites are Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Mix-up, and First Taste of Freedom. But either way, people have come to enjoy my writing—which makes me happy. It gives an author great satisfaction to know that your fans enjoy reading your works. And likewise, I enjoy reading my favorite author's works. It's just that today…

…I already _have_ read all of my favorite author's books.

So, there I was, stuck at the library, bored. I was usually never bored, but today, I was. There were no books to read, which meant no inspiration for any of my fanfictions. Brilliant. Now I have to wait to update my stories…

Or so I thought.

I sat at a table in the library for what seemed like ages. Finally, I decided to search for a random book that caught my eye. _Why not?_ I had thought. _I've got an hour until my mother comes to pick me up; might as well find something to read._

And so, I searched. Book after book after book. Nothing seemed to interest me. I was beginning to get very bored. _Maybe I should go look at the manga…_I was beginning to think. But just as I thought that, two books' spines caught my eye.

At first, I thought, _How ironic…just when I'm about to leave, I finally find something._ But then, when I noticed what the titles of the books were, my heart skipped a beat.

Both of them were entitled: Arabian Nights.

Without thinking, I grabbed them both with one hand, eager to find inspiration for a story. Little did I know I would embark on my own story very soon…

I dumped them on the table, sitting down. I had to stop myself before I got too jittery; it happened each time I thought I'd find motivation. So, I took a deep breath, and then took a gaze at the books I had found.

My heart literally stopped.

One of the books looked like the original. The other, however, had a picture of a familiar ring genie and a blue hedgehog on it…

I gasped and sat there, frozen. Nothing happened for the longest time as I just stared at the book. Suddenly, reality kicked into me, and I glanced at the clock to see how much time I had. 45 minutes. It didn't matter, anyway. I knew what book I was going to get, but I wanted to see how far I could get into the book without my mother coming first.

Curiosity consumed my entire being as I opened the book. Then, my heart fell. It was in Arabic! How was I supposed to read this? Disappointed, I grabbed the pages, turning them rapidly to see if all of it was in Arabic. To my surprise, some of the pages were blank. In fact, one third of the book was blank!

This confused me, but also frightened me. In the back of my head, I heard a little voice whisper, _It's happening…_

Without thinking, I slammed the book shut, closing my eyes. No…it couldn't possibly, really, actually be happening…could it? _You're jumping to conclusions, Crystal,_ I told myself. But still, I didn't want to open the book again. My hand was laid upon it, but it was more in the way of hiding the cover from my view. Maybe I was imagining things…?

Slowly and timidly, I removed my hand. To my greatest astonishment, the cover had changed. This time, it showed a familiar evil genie; his chest bare, with red eyes, black pants, and an evil razor-sharp sword in his hands…

_Razor…_my mind echoed. Without thinking, I scooted my chair back slightly. Whatever was making this book act strangely, it was not of this world. And that scared me. It was something I couldn't control—something I didn't know. And the fear of the unknown can be one of the most soul-binding fears ever.

I have learned so.

At that moment, however, I decided I wanted nothing to do with that book. I picked it up to put it back on the shelf, when suddenly, against my will, I reopened it instead. It was like my mind was forcing me to see something. And that 'something' made oxygen become stuck in my throat.

The words…all in Arabic…were fading, one by one. Before my very hazel eyes, they disappeared into the pages. That's when I _knew_ I didn't want anything to do with that book.

I was about to close it abruptly, when that little voice in the back of my head whispered, _Adventure…_

I stopped as my soul was split. My eyes turned back to the pages, watching as each character of Arabic faded into nothing. Words from a favorite game of mine ran through my head._ …If our world ceases to exist, then not only those stories will be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed into your world…_

"Shahra…" I whispered. I bit my lip. This was beyond my control—there was nothing I could do…and yet, I was the only one who _could _do something. I looked around. No one was noticing what was happening. No one was realizing that their own lives were in danger…

_Crystal, you're making this sound like an epic story! Just put the book away! It's probably just some book that the author wants its readers to be fascinated by…_I thought, heading back to the shelf. But deep down, I knew that couldn't be. The book was in _my _hands. The fate of the Arabian Nights was in _my _hands.

Finally, I forced myself to stop and reopen the book. Another page had become blank. _If I continue to stall, then the world of the Arabian Nights will vanish…_That's when another idea struck me. Quickly, I walked back to the table, where the original Arabian Nights book was. I opened it, and began flipping through the pages. My theory was correct. The real Arabian Nights was vanishing as well.

"It's real…" I whispered. Again, that fear of the unknown began to take over me. Something not of this world was behind this, and something of this world was destined to stop it. I did not want to believe that I, Crystal, fanfiction author who usually created stories for characters to go on, was about to go on a story of my own.

_Wait…who said I was going?_ My mind thought. _I have free will, right? I can say if I'm not going to go, and I'm not going to go! _I closed both books, ready to put them back on the shelf, when another line from the game ran through my head. _"I want you to stop him…you must stop the Erazor Djinn. Only you, the blue hedgehog, can do it…"_

My mind echoed, _Only you, the young author, can do it…_ But why me? I was an author, not a hero! I WROTE adventures! I didn't GO ON adventures! _To re-write the book…_my mind whispered. I looked at the Arabian Night book in my hand. The picture changed once again to a scroll with a feather pen on it. The scroll had a few lines in Arabic on it, but other than that, it was blank.

I held the book in both of my hands, looking at it. _I'm an author…_I thought. _I write stories…am I supposed to re-write the Arabian Nights? _Somehow, I felt that was right. I _was_ supposed to re-write the Arabian Nights. But how? I didn't know Arabic!

_Sonic and the Secret Rings…_my mind whispered. The connection clicked. What happened in the game, was happening now. The only thing is…I'm supposed to be there.

But how was I supposed to get in the book? And who said I was ever going? _Destiny did…_my mind said, _And I know destiny always wins._

I closed my eyes to try and recall how Sonic had gotten into the book of the Arabian Nights. It was by Shahra…but how am I supposed to get there? I don't have a ring genie!

_The book!_ My mind called. Suddenly, it dawned on me that this book was my way to get into the book of the Arabian Nights. I was to help Sonic get the seven world rings and defeat Erazor Djinn…

It was hard to believe that me, Crystal, was about to embark on an adventure. The more I thought about the game, the less the world around me seemed to be real. The shelves, the tables, the computers, the people—everything was dissolving from view. But I didn't notice. Not until I found myself in a different library, where a fireplace was right across from me and a couch was to my left, with a small, teenage, blue hedgehog sleeping on it, a book covering his eyes.

And so, my adventure began…


	2. Chapter 1: Enter Sonic and Shahra

My arms tightened around the book in my arms as I stood there, silently, and in complete shock.

"Um…" a soft, female voice came from no where.

The blue hedgehog on the couch slept soundly, snores escaping his slightly closed mouth. I could only watch as the scene before me unfolded…

"Hmph!" the voice exclaimed. "Hey, wake up!"

Suddenly, the cerulean hedgehog did indeed wake up. His gloved hand reached up, taking the book from his head. Then, he stretched, his mouth opening and letting out a loud yawn.

"Boy…is it that late already? What time is it?" he asked no one.

He reached out to grab what he thought was a clock, but instead, it was a giant ring. His emerald green eyes stared at the golden object in shock.

"Huh?" was all he could say.

The melodic female voice spoke again, saying, "You are the blue hedgehog…"

Suddenly, the beholder of the voice sprouted from the ring. Her skin was tan in color, and her wrists adorned gold bracelets. Her hair was a bright pink, pulled back in what looked like a braid with another golden ring at the end. Some of her hair twirled upward like a question mark, while her bangs were draped to the sides, outlining her beautiful and almost oriental-looking face. She had big, bright brown eyes that held knowledge and yet mystery in them. Her body adorned a sleeveless light purple top with a pink sash that wrapped around her waist with a bow on the side. She had big, puffy, white pants that ended about half-way down the lower part of her leg, with pink sandals that were on her feet. Arabian? Maybe. But I knew who she was. And more importantly…

I knew WHAT she was.

"AH!" the blue hedgehog cried in surprise. "What the--?"

"Do not be alarmed!" the girl quickly told him. "I am Shahra, the Genie of the Ring…you know, like 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'?"

With that, 'Shahra' picked up a book that was indeed entitled "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp".

"Don't think I've read that…" the azure hedgehog responded.

"WHAT?" Shahra's expression was one of total shock. "You've got to be kidding me! It's the best story of all the Arabian Nights—or, at least, the 2nd best…but that's besides the point. Please, look at this!"

The ring genie thrust the now-open book at his face, indicating towards the page she had opened it to. The hedgehog looked at the book with a puzzled face, before taking the page, and flipping it over.

"Hey…the page is blank…" he informed.

_Just like in my book! _ I thought.

Shahra looked at him solemnly. "Our world…the world of the Arabian Nights…is vanishing…"

I opened my book that I held, and saw that the own letters in mine were still fading away. The blue hedgehog seemed to notice that in the book this genie held, the characters were disappearing as well, for his face showed one of shock.

"Vanishing…?" he repeated. "But how?"

"This is the work of an incredibly evil spirit…the Erazor Djinn," Shahra replied.

"Erazor…? Djinn…?" the hedgehog's nose scrunched up as if the name sounded foreign and unfavorable.

"Yes…" Shahra nodded. "He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so, he has begun to set the inscriptions free, absorbing the power of the book itself."

"The power of the book?" the blue hedgehog repeated.

My eyes widened. That was how I was sent here! The book DID have power! I looked at the one in my hands. The book Shahra held looked like the other one—the original one—which was at the library. I knew the one I possessed wasn't. But then…what WAS it?

"If our world ceases to exist, then not only those stories will be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed unto your world…"

My head snapped up. That was the exact statement my mind had echoed only moments before!

"That definitely sounds like trouble…but…what do you want ME to do?" the teenage hedgehog asked.

"I want you to stop him. You must stop the Erazor Djinn. Only you—the blue hedgehog—can do it!" the genie replied.

_Only you, the young author, can do it…_ my mind whispered. I took a step back to shrink into the shadows, but my weight caused the wood underneath me to creak.

Both of them turned to see me standing there, eyes wide and terrified from the sudden amount of attention.

"Who're you?" the blue hedgehog asked me. "And how did you get in here?" 

"I…I…" I couldn't talk. Being put on the spot like that, all I could do was stutter. Finally, though, my mind took control of my mouth, and I was able to get out, "This book…"

I held the novel that was in my hands out for them to see. Shahra's eyes seemed to widen.

"Wh-where did you get that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"F-From where I came from…from Earth…" I answered, trying to make myself sound brave. That was a failure.

"Um…newsflash: we are on earth," the hedgehog informed me.

I stared at him for a long time. "That can't be…" I began to say. But then I had to remind myself: Sonic and the Secret Rings did take place in—besides the Arabian Nights—earth. But then…how was I here? Was I transported into the game? Where in the world was I? Wait…let me rephrase that:

Where in the universe was I?

"That book…" Shahra spoke him, her eyes never leaving it. "Is the tale of the blue hedgehog…it's the legend that I was talking about."

My eyes widened, catching onto what she was saying. "You mean…this book is about Sonic and the Secret Rings?"

"What in the world?!" the cerulean hedgehog exclaimed. "What is 'Sonic and the Secret Rings'—and WHY does it have my name in it? Somebody start makin' sense around here or else there is gonna be one ticked blue hedgehog."

"F-From where I come from," I began to explain. For some reason, explaining these sort of things helped calm down my nerves. I didn't know how…maybe it was because I got to focus on what I knew and not what I didn't.

Again, the fear of the unknown can be one of the most soul-binding fears ever.

"'Sonic and the Secret Rings' is the name of a popular video game. It's got you, Sonic, and you, Shahra, in it. In fact, it tells the whole adventure that you are about to go on."

"So let me get this straight…" 'Sonic' started. "You have played this 'video game', right?"

I nodded.

"So you know what's going to happen in the future," he concluded.

"Correct," I responded.

"And that book…" he pointed a finger at the novel in my possession. "Also tells what's going to happen in this adventure I'm supposedly going to go on."

"You are right again," Shahra answered.

"But then why does SHE have the book? She already knows what happens!" Sonic said.

The ring genie shook her head, also confused. "That's just it…I don't know…"

Suddenly, I felt out of place. Maybe I wasn't supposed to come like I thought. I was just seeming to make things more complicated…

"But the book…" my mind spoke out loud through my mouth.

"Hmm?" Shahra turned to me.

"U-uh….the Arabian Nights is a book also read where I come from…I looked in one of the books…the characters were fading away…" I murmured.

Silence.

"He's more thirsty for power than I thought…" Shahra whispered.

"Excuse me?" Sonic asked.

"The Erazor Djinn is not only trying to get into your world…he's also trying to get into her's as well…" the genie answered.

"Well, then I guess I really ought to put that Erazor Djinn character back where he belongs!" Sonic smirked, pounding his fist into his other hand.

"B-but he's inside a storybook!" I blurted. "How are we supposed to do anything about that?"

Man, I was so stupid. Just after I said those words, I remembered what happened in the game.

"That's easy." Shahra giggled. She turned to Sonic as she continued. "You are my master, having called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I am able to grant your wishes. Simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the Arabian Nights is within my power."

"What?! Inside that book?" Sonic asked, bewildered.

Shahra nodded, and in a puff of smoke, she was a ring. It had a unique design on it, with a small light pink jewel on top of its golden surface.

"Now, please…" her voice sounded from everywhere. "Place the ring on your finger."

Sonic took the ring that was floating in mid-air, and slid it onto his middle finger. "Like…this?"

Suddenly, sparks flew from the ring, and the hedgehog winced in pain.

"OUCH! Hey, take it easy!" he yelled.

"My apologies, oh Master…" Shahra's voice responded. "But now, the contract has been sealed."

"Contract?" Sonic asked, eyebrow raised. He cast a puzzled glance at me, which I quickly exchanged.

"Yes…as master of the ring, I am now bound to protect you. Now, rub the ring," Shahra instructed.

"Like…like this?" Sonic rubbed the top of the ring with his finger from his other hand.

Suddenly, Shahra sprouted from the ring just like she had done earlier when she first appeared. But this time, she was bowed as if in a sign of high respect and servitude.

"Oh Master of the ring, what is thy wish?" she asked.

Suddenly, a little piece of dust flew up into Sonic's nose. Before I knew what was going on, I saw Sonic's head shake forward, sneezes escaping his mouth.

"M-maybe some Kleenexes would be nice…" he said, sniffing, after his sneezing session was over.

In a flash, both of us were buried in a pile of hankies; the only thing showing was our heads.

"HEY!" I exclaimed, surprised.

Sonic has a totally different reaction, however. "Thanks!" he responded, smiling. He grabbed one and blew his nose, it having turned runny after his heavy moment of sneezing. "You're a lifesaver!"

"Please, be serious!" Shahra said, her slim eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay, okay…thanks for the hankies, though," Sonic smirked.

The genie shook her head. "Oh, please…someone tell me this isn't really happening…"

"All right…let's go!" Sonic helped me up out of the avalanche of hankies, that adventurous smirk still on his face. His hand was strong yet gentle, I noted. I couldn't help but take all the mental notes I could. Sonic was my childhood hero. I wanted to know everything about him that I could before I had to go back…

Wait, how WAS I going to get back?

Well, the book took me here, so certainly it must be able to take me back. I smiled. That sounded reasonable enough.

"Take us into this world of the Arabian Nights!" he continued.

"Wait—US?!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself.

Sonic turned to smirk at me. "Yeah. You didn't think you could get out of this trip, did ya? I might need a little help getting through the Arabian Nights—and since you know everywhere I'm supposed to go, might as well tag along, eh?"

I felt a little uncomfortable. An adventure? Me? That didn't happen. Although…it would be fun to go on an adventure…

I mean, come on. How many people get to say they saved the world with Sonic the Hedgehog? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! And what did I usually do with once in a lifetime opportunities…?

My head nodded firmly. "All right. To the Arabian Nights we go!"

Sonic turned back to Shahra, that courageous smirk plastered on his face. "Let's do this, Shahra!"

Shahra nodded, bowing. "As you wish, Master…"

"Quit it, will you?" Sonic quickly exclaimed. "My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Very well then, Sonic…the Legendary Hedgehog," Shahra smiled. With a raise of her hand, a magic carpet suddenly appeared from nowhere. "Here we go! Into the world of the Arabian Nights!"

My heart began to pick up its pace as I climbed aboard. I was actually going to go on an adventure…me, Crystal! I couldn't believe it. My arms wrapped around tightly the book I held.

"Okay!" Sonic said, jumping on board the magic carpet as well. He suddenly stopped once he got on, and turned to me. "I forgot to ask: What's your name?"

"Me…? Oh…well, my name's Crystal," I answered.

Shahra smiled as she joined us on the flying rug. "Very well then, Crystal. Shall we be off?"

I nodded, but then turned to Sonic. The blue hedgehog was her real master—not me. He had to make the orders.

Sonic nodded, his emerald eyes twinkling with an excitement for what lay ahead. "Here we go!"

Adrenaline rushed through my veins along with a pang of fear as the carpet took off, running around the room once, before heading towards the open book. I screamed as it dived downward, thinking we were going to crash into the table the book laid on. Instead, I suddenly felt as if we flew through a cloud.

And before I knew it, we were inside the world of the Arabian Nights.


	3. Chapter 2: Arrow of Flame

When I dared open my eyes, I gasped, completely overtaken by shock. The very first word I could mutter was, "Wow…"

The place we were in was almost like a void…the ground was made out of pages with indistinguishable words on them, and around us swirled pages, as well. There were little gates along the road…as it if was some sort of long portal…

"What is this place?" Sonic asked, stepping off of the magic carpet and onto the page floor.

I hesitantly followed suit. After I did so, Shahra flicked her wrist, and the carpet disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I…I don't—" I was about to say 'I don't know', but then I remembered the game. "The Lost Prologue!" I said a bit more confidently.

"'The Lost Prologue'…? What kind of title is that?" Sonic tapped his foot, as if itching to run down the long isle of pages.

I shrugged, instinctively becoming protective. "Don't ask me—I didn't create this game!"

"May I suggest that we continue our quest? We don't have long!" Shahra reminded.

Sonic turned to the genie, a smirk on his face. "All right! Then let's do this!"

And with that, he burst off running, only a blur to the naked eye. I gasped, my braided hair flailing in the wind…but wait, where was my Mokona hat? My hand reached up to the top of my head, feeling around. My hat wasn't there! I gasped. I might have left it at the library! The library on my world!

Speaking of which, how was my family going to take my disappearance?

I suddenly glowered. Well…I was stuck in this adventure, and there was no way of getting out until it was completed. Besides, if we didn't succeed, there would be no home to go to! I had to save everybody!

Now _that_ was a thought that rarely ran through my head.

Me? Saving people? Wow…what a concept! I mean, of course I have dreamed about being a hero...but it actually happening?? That was a little too much to chew.

Suddenly, I felt another strong gust of wind, and this time, coming towards me. I almost fell backwards from the force.

When I opened my dark yellow eyes, there stood Sonic.

"Aren't you coming, Crys?" he asked.

I looked at him blankly. "Uh…I guess…"

"Then come on!" With that, he grabbed my wrist, about to take off, when Shahra stopped him.

"Sonic, wait!" the pink orb of light called. It didn't surprise me much, since I had seen the game. She then transformed into her genie state. "Judging by the rate that you run, if you drag Crystal like that, you could damage her shoulder."

The blue hedgehog thought about this for a minute. "Eh…I guess you're right. But then, how is she supposed to come with us?"

Silence. That _was_ a good question.

Sonic then snapped his fingers, answering his own inquiry. "Got it! I'll carry her!"

"You'll whaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed as suddenly, I was picked up by Sonic, who began running as soon as he had me in his arms.

I was about to lose my blue loafers, we were going so fast. I quickly grabbed them, with some complaints from not being able to see by Sonic, and held on to them as tightly as I was doing with the book. My hair didn't flail, to my surprise. It was straight. Completely straight in the air as Sonic ran.

I had to close my eyes shut, the pressure was so intense. And yet…I loved every second of it. Being able to taste how fast Sonic ran—it was incredible! Completely breathtaking! I could barely breathe! 

But all too soon, Sonic was getting tired, and had to slow down. To help him recover his breath, I climbed out of his arms, and slipped my shoes on again, the book still in my hold.

Sonic whipped some sweat away from his brow as Shahra changed back to her genie form. We walked on in silence.

Finally, the blue hedgehog turned to Shahra, and asked, "So…who's this guy who's trying to make the world disappear again?"

Shahra's face seemed to darken. "You mean…the Erazor Djinn?"

"Yeah. That's right. Could you take me to him?" Sonic asked.

I stopped walking, my eyes wide with shock. And just as I silently predicted, purple lights appeared in front of us, starting out small, and then growing with intensity and unique design.

Shahra opened her mouth to reply to Sonic's question, but I answered for her.

"There is no need…" I murmured, almost in a trance.

Sonic's head snapped towards me. "Whaddya mean?"

I thrust my hand outward, pointing to the purple light spectacle in front of us. "He's here!"

Suddenly, without warning, a large, mysterious figure appeared from the lights. Before we had a time to react, it lashed out at Sonic.

"Sonic!" I screamed.

But there really was no need. With his ever-so-quick reflexes, Sonic back-flipped out of the way, landing perfectly a yard or two behind where he had been. I slowly back stepped to stand beside him, hoping this 'mysterious figure' would just ignore my presence.

"What was THAT all about…? Talk about close shaves…" with a smirk, Sonic added, "Maybe you know where I can get my quills sharpened, too?"

Shahra then floated to our side, a panicked look on her face. "Sonic! That's him! He's the evil spirit who's striking the words of our world from the pages!"

"You…you must be that blue rat and girl that just got added to the story…" upon closer inspection, I realized that this really was Erazor Djinn. His pale purple skin, and weird red tattoos, and black pants and cape were something I couldn't forget from the game. But those red, piercing eyes…those were something I could only never forget from seeing it in real life.

Sonic stood up, as if also scrutinizing his new enemy. "Don't you know anything?" he replied. "I'm not a rat! I'm a hedgehog!"

"I am Erazor Djinn! I am the one who shall carve up this world as I see fit," the former genie in front of us declared. His eyes narrowed, glaring at the small hedgehog.

"Yeah…well, if you're going to do that, can you at least wait until I'm done reading it, first?" Sonic asked. His mouth twitched, as if he was about to smirk.

Shahra turned to the hero, wearing a despaired expression. "Sonic…"

"One hundred of the One Thousand and One Nights have already been wiped clean! And soon, the rest shall join them…night by night…and then, with the Seven World Rings—"

"Seven World Rings?" both Sonic and I asked at the same time—the former with curiosity, the latter with bewilderment.

Erazor quickly pushed aside the fact that we both interrupted him, and turned to the Arabian genie beside us. "You _have_ gathered the Seven World Rings for me…have you not, Shahra, my dear?"

Sonic and I exchanged glances. The way he addressed Shahra was almost like a lover would to their mate.

"Are you still going on about that?" Shahra seemed defensive, and it was clearly stated on every feature of her smooth face. "I told you, those things don't even exist! And even if they did, I'd never give them to you!" 

Ouch.

"Oh…wouldn't you, though?" once again, the tone Erazor used was like a man to his wife.

Shahra turned away. Sonic and I once again exchanged looks. Something was going on between them. It was never really evident in the game, but in real life, it was as clear as day.

Erazor tapped his chin as if in deep thought. "I suppose a suitable punishment is in order, then…" 

Shahra whipped around to face the genie, a look of pure betrayal on her face. Erazor gave a sinister smirk as he pointed his finger outward, towards her. At the tip of it, a small flame protruded, which quickly grew. And, as quick as a bullet, it launched towards Shahra.

My eyes grew wide with fear as I heard Sonic quickly exclaim, "LOOK OUT!"

And then, it happened. In a flash of blue, Sonic quickly intercepted the bullet of flame, and instead of it hitting Shahra…it hit him. Square in the chest.

Sonic winced as he collapsed to the ground; a small, barely visible arrow of flame sticking out from where it struck him.

"Sonic!" Shahra and I called out in horror. Both of us rushed to the hero's side.

Erazor merely laughed.

"So…this is how Judgment is dealt, is it? Hmm…this should be interesting…" he wore a taunting smirk on his face.

I felt enraged. It was like he was…amused by what was going on! How could he? I, besides Erazor himself, knew what the arrow would do if we did not gather the Seven World Rings in time. How could he look at this scene—this shadow of what is to come—and act like it is a comedy he would see on television?

"You listening?" Erazor's question snapped me out of my angry thoughts. "Bring me the Seven World Rings before the arrow of flame extinguishes. If you do not…"

Sonic and Shahra both looked upward towards the former genie.

"…your life is forfeit," there seemed to be a gleam of pleasure in his haunting crimson eyes as he said that. His voice was soon filled with the same emotion as he informed, "Next, I think I shall collect the life of King Sharyar…"

That was enough. Seeing this cutscene in a game was one thing, but seeing it in real life—knowing this was the real fate of the world—was totally different. I stood up, running towards him.

"You monster!" was the only thing I could yell, as I tried to grasp him before he was gone.

But the only thing I was able to get in my hands was the puff of smoke remaining from his sudden exit. I gritted my teeth.

"The king is the creator of the Arabian Nights and the main character of the story!" Shahra exclaimed. She seemed more frightened than angry.

Sonic weakly smirked, standing up. "With my speed, we'll just have to make sure to get to him first!"

I turned to the others, before calming myself and nodding in agreement.

"Hey…Crys…where's the book?" Sonic suddenly asked.

I gasped, looking around. To my greatest relief, it was only a foot or two away from where I stood. I must've dropped it in my blind rage.

After I picked the book up, I felt a sudden gush of wind as I was suddenly swept off my feet and into the strong arms of the blue hedgehog himself.

He smirked. "Before we go, ya might wanna take your shoes off first, so then I can see the whole time."

I let out a quiet laugh. "You're right." And with that, I did exactly as I was told.

"Aren't I always?" Sonic then turned to Shahra. "Ready?"

The genie nodded, and that was all the little hero needed before he burst off at high speed, my eyes once again forced shut from the intensity of the pressure.


	4. Chapter 3: Finding King Sharyar

"Crys, open your eyes…" was the first thing I heard.

I was hesitant, but finally, I gained the courage to open my eyes.

"Where…are we…?" I asked, looking around.

We were not in the Lost Prologue anymore. At least, that much I noticed. We were in some type of ancient temple. But the next thing I immediately noticed was the heat. Boy, was it hot! Not that Sonic's flame by my ear was helping much…

"Sonic, we must hurry! We have to make it to the king's palace before Erazor does!" Shahra insisted, her small purple ball form glowing impatiently.

"You're right. Let's book it!" I couldn't help but smirk and roll my eyes at the same time at Sonic's pun. But I didn't have time for a retort, for in a split second, he was racing off again.

We exited the building at a rising speed, before suddenly running downhill with extreme momentum.

I couldn't help but scream at the feeling. It was like riding a roller coaster, except the only thing keeping you in your seat were a pair of arms that were smaller than you.

Once at the bottom, Sonic's feet met the sand in a blind fury, no speed lost. I was breathless, but the hedgehog wasn't. He kept right on running. Right. Left. Right. Left. It seemed that everywhere there was a twist or turn! 

Finally, our path evened out as Sonic ran across the side of a sand hill. It looked safe enough.

At least, that's what I thought.

A sudden pillar shot up where Sonic's right foot used to be a millisecond ago. I screamed in surprise, but Sonic took it all in stride. In fact, now that I recall it, I think he was actually _smiling_.

But back to the story, Sonic kept racing along the side of the sand hill, dodging the pillars with ease. I could only cling tightly with the book and my shoes in hand as he sped along.

Suddenly, one of the pillars that just popped up tipped over. It was going to smash us!

I couldn't scream as I suddenly felt a deep despairing black fear clutch my heart. But as soon as it appeared, it passed as Sonic backed up and jumped over the fallen pillar agilely.

"What, did it scare ya?" he smirked at me.

I looked at him, trying to muster the best glare I could. It didn't work. Sonic laughed in response, and I could feel the vibrations in his chest.

A sudden yell from Shahra snapped me out of my thoughts as she cried, "Erazor's henchmen!" 

Before I knew what was going on, I could feel the ground rush up to meet me as I started tumbling on the stone block Sonic had landed on after he jumped. The blue hedgehog had dropped me! I looked back up over my shoulder in time to see the blue blur spin dash some sort of robotic creature, before rushing back to me.

"What was that all about?" I asked, standing up and dusting myself off.

"Sorry. Didn't want ya to get hurt when I attacked that henchmen," Sonic replied.

He had a point. I didn't want to get hurt, either. "It's all good," I gave my signature reply that all my friends knew me for.

"Sonic!" That was Shahra as the genie floated down to us, still in her ball form. "There are a bunch of Erazor's henchmen ahead of us!"

Sonic turned to me. "You hear that? That means you're gonna have to run on your own until I get rid of all those enemies up there."

I nearly choked. "I have to WHAT? B-but I can't run with these things!" And with that, I held up my loafers for indication.

Sonic tapped his foot. "You're right…" He turned to Shahra, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hey, Shahra."

In a second, Shahra changed back into her genie form, bowed in humble respect. "Oh master, what is thy wish?"

"Could you make Crys some tennis shoes, here? She can't exactly run with those…things," the blue hedgehog informed, not exactly knowing what they were called. Eh, he was a guy. What can you expect, ladies?

I looked at Sonic, and then at Shahra. Shahra nodded without a thought of disobedience, before flicking her wrist in my direction. Instantly, a pair of blue with white-stripes tennis shoes was in my hands instead of my loafers. To my surprise, there was even a pair of socks tucked away inside. I was shocked, to say the least.

But Sonic wasn't the least bit fazed. Instead, he tapped his foot impatiently, before saying, "We don't have much time. Hurry and put those on and let's get moving!" With that, the blue blur was off.

Immediately, I bent down and put on my new shoes. Even more of a shock—they were my exact size! My dark yellow eyes flew to my right to ask Shahra how she knew my size and that I needed socks, but the genie was off to keep up with Sonic. I tilted my head to the side slightly, still wondering how she did it. But I didn't have time for that. Sonic's directions still rung in my head and I had to follow them. With that, I started running towards the end of the path, the odd book in my hands.

Once I reached the end, I didn't even have time to look back and see where the other two were. Suddenly, I was once again swept up by some intense force. I screamed in surprise, clutching the book like it was life.

"Great donuts, do you _have_ to do that every time I pick you up?"

Sonic!

"Sonic Hedgehog, don't you _dare_—"

But my threat fell upon deaf ears as Sonic quickly turned a corner, and rushed forward to jump upon a large platform.

Again, I screamed.

But Sonic only laughed.

"Not used to the ol' Hedgehog Express, eh?" he kidded.

And again, I tried to muster up a glare, but it didn't work. Sonic only shook his head, and continued running, jumping from large blocks to large blocks. Finally, though, he did something that made me nearly choke him from my intense grip that suddenly flew around his neck (no one noticed the small book flutter to the sand beneath us…).

He _jumped_ towards a _pillar_, _**stopped**_on it for a millisecond, and _then_ jumped off again towards the sand across from us.

Meanwhile (I couldn't help but notice) there was _**nothing**_below us.

Realize why I was scared? This was _not_a roller coaster. _Nothing_ like one. I was being carried by a three foot tall hedgehog (in which _I'm_ around five foot) with the only thing keeping us from falling was his acrobatic skills. _What if he slipped?_ _What if he ran into the pillar, and let gravity take its course?_ The questions never ended. There were too many things that _could've_ happened, that I didn't realize _what_ had happened.

I didn't even know when Sonic had come to a stop, his strong emerald eyes now showing concern.

It didn't even register in my head when he called my name.

Heck, I wasn't even alive to the world.

Well, technically I was, but at that time, I thought I wasn't. It's what people call _shock_, and that was my first time experiencing it.

Finally, though, I everything snapped into focus, and my back straightened as I finally screamed out in such a sheer fear, that I was sure even the pterosaur flying over head heard me (although I didn't realize that it was that particular pterosaur that would cause us some trouble in the near future).

"GEE WHIZ! Does _that_ answer your question, Shahra?"

Sonic! Why that little, red-shoed…

Yes, I wasn't good with calling people bad names, but hey. I usually didn't. That comes in as a free bonus to the package you get when you become a Christian.

But it was then I noticed something else. We weren't out in the sun anymore. Instead, we were in some kind of aquatic-blue, yet Arabian-looking temple. My back was against the wall (probably where Sonic had placed me) and across from me, kneeling was the blue hedgehog himself, with Shahra leaning over his arm.

I didn't even finish the thought in my head of _why_ she was fiddling with his arm like that, when Sonic winced. It was then that I noticed the blood that slowly oozed down from a cut that wasn't there before.

"Holy cow!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself, getting up (although somewhat shakily) and hurrying over to the kneeling hedgehog. "What happened, Sonic?"

But instead of the one I had questioned, Shahra answered. "When you entered your state of shock, I urged Mas—"

"Sonic," the wounded one pointedly interrupted.

"—Sonic," Shahra corrected herself, "to continue. We had to hurry and reach the king before Erazor—who knows what may happen. But along our way we were ambushed by large arrow-like spears. Master Sonic was so focused on protecting you, that he wasn't watching himself." Sonic received a stern glare from the genie. From the way things looked, Shahra was almost acting like the hero's _mother_.

That was a concept I never noticed in the game, either.

Sonic hastily stood up. Obviously, he didn't like the idea of having someone constantly watch over him. I looked up in time to barely see a hint of sadness wash over him, before his usual cockiness returned.

"Eh. I've had enough of this. Let's get going. We've got a king to save!" and so, with his newly-bandaged arm, he set off into the temple at a walking pace without waiting for us.

Shahra sighed. "I don't get him…" I heard her whisper.

My head snapped towards her, asking, "What?"

The genie's shoulders slumped, and her gaze seemed almost…tender…as she watched Sonic walk away.

"I don't get him," she repeated, a little louder so I could hear better. "Earlier, when you were still in the state of shock, he refused me to let me see his wound. Finally, I got him to comply, but when I started to care to his cut, he suddenly…tensed."

Tensed? Hearing this of my childhood hero, I readily listened as the ring genie continued.

Another sigh escaped her. But what I heard was not what I wanted to… "He is a strange one," she whispered. "Perhaps he is like they say…perhaps he is…'like the wind', more than we think…"

For the first time, that saying clicked into my brain. Like the wind… It wasn't just some sort of metaphor. It was more like…a _simile_. Sonic _was_ the wind. It wasn't just in how he acted. Sure, he was stubborn, unpredictable, free-loving. But it was who he _was_. It was apart of his _being_. Like the wind, he could be gentle and caring. Like the wind, he could be comforting and uplifting and freeing. And like the wind, he too could be destructive and dangerous. _He was the wind_—refusing to be commanded, and not being able…to be _understood_.

And then, the guilt came.

I had been describing, in my fanfictions, Sonic _all_ _wrong_. I described him as a perky hedgehog who was a few cards short of a deck. There were some stories I even described him more accurately—a free-lance hedgehog with unusual cockiness. But he was _more_. And now, as I finally got to meet him…I saw who he really was.

Sonic wasn't a cheesy, do-gooder who fought evil just because he had to; just because it was his duty.

He fought evil because he _wanted_ to.

Sonic was stronger than many—even me, I admit—give him credit for. So many of us watch his life unfold before us—fighting against Chaos, losing Shadow, defeating Metal Sonic, being _killed_, even—but we don't think anything of it. We just think, _Oh cool, Sonic saved the day again_.

But _there's so much more_.

I, Crystal, who have been one to always dream about adventures, was finally on one. It was _nothing_ like what I thought it to be. It was _terrifying_, _threatening_, and I was sure it would give me nightmares the rest of my life.

And yet…Sonic went through this almost every day.

My mind drifted to his first adventure—his first game: "Sonic the Hedgehog". Simple enough, right? _Wrong_.

I had to do some math to figure out how old he would've been when he first went up against Eggman. Guess what I came up with?

_Nine._

_Sonic was nine years old when he went on his first adventure_.

The thought hit me like a ton of cold bricks. _Nine…_ I barely remember anything when I was that age! What was I…in third grade? I was _wee little_! Scared of everything!

And yet, one of that age stood up to save the world.

I sank to my knees, feeling numb.

I was wrong…so wrong…

Then, came the anger.

So many other people who wrote fanfictions also described Sonic poorly. Not that I couldn't blame some of them…they didn't really know how the hedgehog really acted. But now that I knew…it brought back memories of some fanfictions that just…put him to shame, really. Battered him. Broke him. _Ruined_ him.

At least there were _some_ good fanfic authors that had (and still do) retain at least a _very_ close angle at his personality. Hoverbike Girl, NetRaptor, Scotty CF, and Catachresis were among the first few that came to mind.

Why? Why did people try to ruin him? He's not who we thought he was. _And…_ I added silently, _…he's been through too much already._

Every. Single. Game. Something drastic happens to Sonic. Think about it. In Sonic Adventure, there was that battle with Chaos. Everyone remember that CGS (or whatever its called) short clip about Chaos destroying Station Square? Remember that part where Perfect Chaos's head broke through that building, and began to form into a large, ugly water lizard?

The graphics put that figure to shame, right? Once you saw what you had to literally go against, you were like, 'What was I scared for'?

_Sonic_ had a reason to be scared.

While you were probably busy trying to mess with the little controller and defeat Perfect Chaos, Sonic was doing the _real thing_.

Again, imagine that large, ugly water lizard we know as Perfect Chaos. Imagine its large mouth, opening, letting out a roar that shook everything around it, a terrifying and heavy thunderstorm displaying about, and everywhere you looked, you couldn't help but see at least one dead body being swept away by the tsunamis that attacked Station Square.

Looks like the end of the world, doesn't it?

But that monster…imagine its _head_ being literally _ten times_ your size.

Those jaws would kill you in an instant.

Yeah. That beastie? Sonic fought that.

I don't think I've made the image clear enough for you, though. So add this:

You know how wild animals act when they see people, right? Ever had a nightmare about a tiger/lion/bear/wolf/whatever that was trying to eat you? Put _that_ instinct into Perfect Chaos.

If he saw you, you would be dead before you could say 'Oh, Snap'.

Yeah. That beastie? Sonic fought that.

But lets add another thing. Ever had that one fear that grips your heart like a black ice, surrounding it and almost…suffocating it? Yeah. Sonic's afraid of water like that. And Perfect Chaos? He was _all_ water.

Remember when I told you to remember that dream about some sort of animal trying to eat you? Remember it again. Do you recall that fear that you felt when the animal leapt for you?

If you think I'm getting too graphic, I'm not done yet. Perfect Chaos was even _scarier_ than that.

But I'll let you think about that one particular subject for a minute.

I did the math again to find out how old Sonic was when he took on Perfect Chaos.

_Fourteen_.

Holy cow, that's how old I am. Images flash through my mind like a nightmare. I imagined _me_ in Sonic's place, having to battle a _giant water lizard_ _hand-to-hand when it was about ONE HUNDRED TIMES MY SIZE (no lie) AND HAVING THE DREADING THOUGHT THAT __**EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE I EVER KNEW WOULD DIE IF I DIDN'T WIN**_

Yeah. That was probably what was going through Sonic's mind, too.

My head lowered as my chin touched my chest. I was wrong…so wrong…

The guilt came over me again, and I felt my eyes water with despair. Sonic…the hero of Mobius…bruised and battered by other authors (and myself)…when he was really something…something…

Suddenly, I felt a soft, gloved hand touch my cheek, gently wiping away my tears that I didn't even know had fallen. I looked up, not even having the strength to gasp. It was Sonic.

His green eyes—I had never noticed how full of life they seemed, how…dare I say this, but _wise_ they were—looked upon me with gentle concern.

He opened his mouth to talk, but I beat him to it. My words were simple and vague, but miraculously, he seemed to understand.

"…I'm sorry…"

A small smile graced his lips. "I don't know what that's about. But you don't have to worry about it. Whatever it was—you're forgiven for."

Sonic. What an amazing hedgehog. What a truly amazing hedgehog.

Shahra's words drifted through my mind. "_…Sonic…the _legendary_ hedgehog…_"

I had the urge to hug him right there on the spot and confess to him all my misdeeds towards him…but I didn't. I don't know how, but Sonic's eyes seemed to tell me he was way on past the subject, and ready to continue with life.

Again, Shahra's words drifted through my mind. "_…perhaps he is…'like the wind', more than we think…_"

The wind. I smiled. The wind, when it moved, never stayed in one spot. It would drift on, completely forgetting what happened behind it. Every drift forward was a new moment—completely fresh, completely clean, with nothing bad having happened yet.

Yes. Sonic was more like the wind than I had thought.

"Hey, Crys. You okay?" Again, those green orbs stared at me in concern.

I nodded. "Let's get going," I said, a new courage rising up in me. "There's a king we gotta save!"

Sonic smirked, eyes shining with enthusiasm. "_That's_ what I like to hear!" Then, as he picked me up, he asked, "Hey, Shahra. Ready to go?"

As we turned to look at her, the genie looked as if she was gazing upon us in approval. Yes, she was more like a mother now than in the game. It was like she had been waiting for two children to reconcile—even though me and Sonic had never fought.

A strong feeling arouse in my chest as I felt that this adventure was going to lead to a great friendship. I looked at Shahra, and then at Sonic. My new friends. Needless to say, it was way past cool.

We were going to be a great team.

I didn't even notice Shahra had nodded and become her pink ball-form until Sonic had announced loudly, "Let's juice and jam!" 

And then, we were off.

-

The journey to King Sharyar's palace from there wasn't that significant—although we did nearly be fried by fire and impaled by the arrow-like spears that Shahra had described earlier. But it went by in a breeze, and soon, Sonic, Shahra and I found ourselves walking into the large throne room of King Sharyar.

Everything was eerily silent. Or, deadly quiet. Either way, all of us had that nagging feeling…

"Where is he? Are we too late?"

Sonic's question voiced what we were thinking.

Then, as if right on cue, a pot burst open to our right, and there (a bit dazed), laid King Sharyar himself. Although, he didn't look like who he was supposed to…

"What's Dr. Eggman doing here?!" Sonic's spines bristled as he took a defensive stance. "Aha! I knew it! This is all another one of your schemes!"

Needless to say, the king was quite confused.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Ironically, his voice sounded almost _exactly_ like Eggman's voice in Sonic Adventure. If I hadn't known who he really was, then I would've thought he was the evil doctor, too. "I am Sharyar—king of this land!"

Sonic growled. It was interesting—I had never known hedgehogs _could_ growl, but apparently, Mobian ones could. It didn't sound like your normal animal growl. It was more…rumbling, as if it was deep in the throat. And low, too. My guess was that if a Mobian hedgehog had all their spines bristled, ears back, knees bent, teeth bared…that'd be the ultimate sign to _back off_. Eh. But what did I know?

"Eggman, what are you up to this time?" he asked. I had to admire the immense self-control Sonic had. He might've attacked him if not for it.

But then, Shahra made her way in between the two, her face fixed in a way of pleading. "Sonic, wait!" she called. Obviously, she sensed the tension, too. "You're making a mistake; this is him. This is King Sharyar!"

Sonic blinked a couple times, and slowly, his spines de-bristled (if that's even a word; so far, Microsoft Word hasn't underlined it in red; fascinating) as he slowly let his back un-arch (wow; that one isn't even underlined in red).

"Such insolence!" Egg—er, King Sharyar yelled. Heh. The guy had such a judgmental and short temper like Robotnik himself. Some things just don't change. "Guards! Seize this…blue…spiky…thing at once!"

Silence. Not a movement was made, nor a sound heard.

Sharyar's face dropped as he suddenly remembered his situation. Shahra looked at the king curiously. "Where are your men, Your Highness?" her voice showed she had a sneaking suspicion on what had happened.

"Oh…" Sharyar gulped. "That's right…let me explain. When the evil spirits appeared out of nowhere, everyone turned and ran. And I was stuck having to hide in that jar."

To emphasize his point, he pointed to the now-broken vase against the wall. I turned back to the king just in time to see a large bird-like creature swoop down towards him.

"Sir! Look—"

But I was too late. Remember that pterosaur I mentioned earlier? Yeah. That was the one that snabbed King Sharyar, and was now making a break for it to the north. As the dinosaur flew away, we could hear the king's voice fading away as he yelled, "Noooooooooooooooo! Save meeeeeeeeee!"

I gasped, my hand covering my mouth even though I had expected the whole thing. It was still quite a shock to see him actually flying away…and so high, too…

But it was only Sonic who noticed Erazor in the room as well. Neither Shahra nor I noticed the new presence until Sonic snickered.

"Hmph…" Erazor grumbled, arms crossing over his chest. Something was amiss. One could tell just by looking at his face.

"Well, well…guess its time for a little action…" with that, Sonic launched at Erazor.

Again, I gasped. This didn't happen in the game…then again, this _wasn't_ the game, but still. This didn't happen in the game! 

Erazor simply swept to the side to avoid Sonic's attack as the hedgehog turned back to the genie.

"What're you—too coward to fight back?" Sonic spat.

Erazor merely grinned. I had to suppress a shudder. I _hated_ that look of his. It was like he knew something we didn't—something that could be fatal.

Little did I know how right I was.

"Did you forget, RAT, about your condition?" his voice seemed slow, and taunting. This made Sonic's spines bristle and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

But neither of us noticed Shahra try to fade into the shadows…

Erazor didn't seem to want an answer to his question, for he continued, "If you thought that I had no control over the speed of the dimming of that flame…you are wrong." With a sudden flick of his wrist, Sonic's eyes suddenly widened as the flame rapidly dimmed to but a little bud of light. With a sudden cry, he grasped at one might guess his heart, doubling over to the ground.

I gasped, shaking my head. No, no, no…this was all wrong! This wasn't supposed to be happening!

"Sonic!" I cried, rushing over to the fallen hedgehog. I reached out to touch him, but the moment I did, he only cried out in more pain.

Erazor laughed.

I never thought that a laugh would scare me, as cheesy as this sounds, to the bone. I was beyond terrified. That laugh…so…there aren't even any words to describe it. It was just…evil.

Once Erazor seemed to have his fun, he said, "Ah…shame but it is that I cannot finish you just yet. I enjoy to see you suffer…_rat_."

Sonic gritted his teeth, but was in too much pain to growl. I tried my best to glare daggers, but as before, it didn't turn out right.

Erazor opened his mouth to speak, but of some sudden courage, I said, "He isn't a _rat_. He's a _hedgehog_."

Only now do I realize that was cheesy to the max. But hey. Sonic seemed to like it, and at that moment, it was such a relief to see the corner of his mouth twitch upward to give a ghost of a smile, that I didn't care.

Erazor glared at me, though. Now, that guy could _glare_. Even now, I will never forget the way he glared at me. Those eyes…

"I have more important matters to attend to. Until then…gather the Seven World Rings…or you will never see your home worlds again…" and in a sudden burst of purple light, the genie vanished.

As soon as Erazor was gone, Sonic gasped, as the fire burst into full flame as it had before the incident. He took big gulps of air, as if his throat had been constricted. To help him (although I wasn't sure there was much I could do), I gently began to rub his back. I had to beware of his spines, though. Just looking at them, I could see how sharp they were. Didn't want to mess with those things—that was for sure.

After five or so minutes, Sonic was finally able to stand up. He breathed out a heavy sigh, before turning to me, a small grin on his face. "Thanks for that back-up, there."

"Huh? What back-up?"

"When you said that I wasn't a rat. May not have sounded like much—but I liked it." My heart swelled with pride, and I smiled widely, practically beaming.

"No problem!" I replied enthusiastically.

It was then Shahra joined us. "Come on—we must save the king from the pterosaur!"

That snapped us back into reality. The king…

Sonic nodded. "Right." And without another word, he picked me up in his arms and was off, once again, traveling through what I knew as Sand Oasis.


	5. Chapter 4: Introducing Zil?

…but no sooner had we exited the palace, that we heard some pleas for help.

Sonic immediately stopped at the land's edge and let me down, his green eyes flickering around over the vast area of quick-sand, ears twitching this way and that. I looked around as well, my waist-long braid swinging with my head movements.

"Who is that?" I asked no one.

Sonic turned to Shahra, who had once again condensed to genie form. "Shahra," he called. "Follow me. I'm gonna go see if they're stuck in the quick-sand."

The genie nodded, before coming a fairy again, and following the hedgehog. Soon, they were out of sight, and it was just little ol' me there in the burning heat. Phew…was it hot…

I fanned myself with my hand. Having long, thick hair doesn't help much with this weather…

I put my other hand over my forehead and squinted my eyes to see if I could spot them. No such luck.

So I waited.

And waited.

And waited…

"Where _are_ they?" I asked the air. This was taking way too long. Did something happen?

I strained my ears to see if I could hear the calls for help. No…those calls had ceased. But where were Sonic and Shahra…?

To my greatest relief, a few minutes later, the two soon came bounding back to me, both looking quite shocked…

It took me a minute to realize that in Sonic's arms was another human girl—like me. She looked to be around my age, maybe a year younger. I couldn't tell from that distance. But she had long dark brown hair pulled up in a pony-tail, and silver-ish eyes. That was weird. You usually never saw a human with grey eyes…

Then again, it was also rare to find a girl with gold-like eyes such as mine.

Anyways, she wore an orange T-shirt and elbow-length purple gloves. She also wore green Capri with purple socks and dark red tennis shoes—the same design as mine.

Overall, she looked like a spunky kind of gal. I don't know how she could've wounded up…

Oh gosh.

It was then I noticed the book in her hands. That was _my _book. The one that had taken me into Sonic's world in the first place! I had to of dropped it…but how did this girl end up having it?

At that moment, Sonic and Shahra reached me. The blue hero let the girl down, and almost immediately, she burst out.

"How the _heck_ are you real?!"

That left nice first-impressions.

Sonic turned to me. "Is she from your world?" he asked, pointing to her.

I shrugged. "I guess…I've never seen her before…"

I could swear the girl's jaw was about to disconnect from her mouth, it was hanging so limp.

"You…" she stuttered, pointing from me to Sonic and back again. "…know…him…?"

I resisted the urge to smirk and act nonchalantly. That would be letting my ego get to me, and trying to act cool—something I failed miserably at. So instead, I simply nodded. "Not for very long though…I nearly just got here."

"And by 'here', she means in the book of _One Thousand and One Nights_. How are you here, may I ask?" it was Shahra's turn to talk, as she was now a genie.

The girl seemed like she had trouble talking, but I guess that was because she was shocked. If I were in her shoes, I probably would be acting the same way she was. "I…I don't…know…really…I was on the internet…at home…reading…" this was where she paused, I couldn't help but notice. "…stories…" _Fanfictions?_ I suspected. "…when suddenly, I blinked my eyes…and…I'm not at home…anymore…"

I felt a twinge of sympathy for her. She must've been freaked out. One minute, you're in your room. The next, you're in a totally different world. But the girl didn't stop her story…

"…and…I had this book in my hands…" with that, she held out my novel. I liked to call it mine, because well…I found it first. Therefore, it was mine.

"That doesn't make sense," Sonic stated plainly, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot repeatedly. "Crys, here, had that book first. Now why do you have it?"

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but Shahra beat her to it. "Perhaps…that book is made to be held by a human at all times…you are too a human, right?"

The girl nodded.

"Then maybe…I am correct. That book must be in the possession of a human at all times. When Crystal dropped it, it must've called another person to come to the world of _One Thousand and One Nights_ and carry it," Shahra explained.

I couldn't stop myself from asking, "But why a human?"

It was at that point, a small smile graced the genie's lips. "Because they are His chosen people."

The air I had been breathing was caught in my throat. God…existed even in Sonic's world? Of course he did! I had to refrain from slapping myself. He was the God of the _universe_ for goodness' sake! I guess even the genies must know he exists… I couldn't help but think, _Oh, how cool!_

The girl, however, must not have known what she meant, for her head tilted to the side, her face showing a puzzled expression. "Who's chosen people?"

This time, I answered. My voice was soft, but everyone heard it. "I AM."

I looked up at Shahra, and the genie was bearing a bright, uplifting smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"So you know…"

I turned to Sonic. The hedgehog was smiling proudly. Not of himself, I noted…but of me. He was proud of _me_. That moment lifted my spirits more than any other. But then, another thought struck me.

"You…you know Him, too?" I whispered.

Sonic's smile grew and he nodded slowly but surely. My heart felt like it was flying out of my rib cage. Sonic knew Christ! Oh _how_ cool! 

"Okay, whoa, whoa, wait…we aren't talking about _Him_, are we?"

The new girl's comment sudden brought me back down to reality—and, it felt like, down to a rocky ground. From what she said (and how she said it), she knew God, but probably wasn't proud of it. I looked back at Shahra and Sonic. Both were looking at me.

"I don't think there's any other person who's chosen people are humans," I said, trying to sound as gentle as I could, although I was really wanting to know what was going through her mind right then.

The girl rolled her eyes, turning her head to the side. She seemed…disappointed? Was she uncomfortable about God? A million questions like that raged through my head. But from the look on her face, I knew I'd have to ask her about it later. Drat. 

So I changed the subject.

"So…what's your name?"

"I'm Zil!" she replied quickly, smiling wildly (thankful, it looked like, for the subject switch), turning towards us and thrusting out her hand. "Are you Crys?"

I nodded, smiling back and shaking her hand. "Sonic calls me that. It's short for Crystal."

Zil froze. "Crystal…"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

Zil instantly shook her head wildly. "Nuthin'…nuthin'…it's just that…I know someone named Crystal…except…never mind…it's crazy…"

"It's only crazy if you don't tell us," Sonic replied, tapping his foot once again and smirking.

"Well…" Zil began, a thoughtful expression on her face. "See…I've never actually _met_ this girl named 'Crystal'…I've just always talked to her over the internet…"

I could not stop the gasp that escaped from my throat.

Shahra seemed confused. "Inter…net…?"

Sonic turned to her to explain, but I was focused on Zil. Could it really be…? 

"Does this…Crystal…call you 'Cocoa-chan'…?" I had silently crossed off that it might be Tiffany. I knew her real name, and I don't think one of her nicknames are 'Zil.'

Zil looked like she had a heart-attack. "No…but she calls another friend that! Oh my gosh, are you her?!"

"Hold on, hold on…" I held up both of my hands. This was going _way_ too fast for me. My heart beat loudly as I said, "We need another test…this Crystal doesn't call you 'Dani-chan'…does she…?" 

"No, but she calls someone else that! Oh my gosh, you really _are_ her!" By now, Zil was jumping up and down excitedly.

"Hold on!" I had to yell. "If you aren't any of them, who are…you…" My voice trailed off as the realization dawned on me.

Zil stood still (or tried to), biting her lip profusely. Her silver eyes twinkled as if they were stars of their own accord.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, covering my mouth. "Are you Sophie-chan…?"

"Yes, yes! That's me! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" Zil was almost literally bouncing off the walls.

"I know; neither can I!" I exclaimed loudly.

Thus was how I met face to face one of my best friends ever, Zil.

But a sudden, and shrill whistle ended the moment abruptly.

Both of us turned, eyes wide, to Sonic, who apparently was the one who had whistled.

"Would someone _please _explain what is going on…?" the hedgehog exclaimed.

Both of us exchanged glances and laughed. But I was the one who spoke. "Sonic and Shahra, meet one of my best internet buddies ever, Zil."

-

A good half-hour later, stories were exchanged, and every one was on the same page. There was only one problem that still remained…

"I can't carry both of you," Sonic said plainly. "There has to be another way to get around as quick as I can."

"Hmm…perhaps I have a solution," Shahra spoke up. Her smooth face showed how deep she was thinking. "If you would wish so, Master—"

"_Sonic_," the blue hedgehog interrupted.

"—then perhaps I can place a spell on them that enables them to turn into a fairy like I do. I could use the book's magic to complete it. It would be a simple spell to do," Shahra explained.

Sonic thought about this a moment, as Zil and I exchanged excited glances. Holy cow! To become fairies…? That would be so cool! 

Now, if only Sonic agreed…

"Well, if its okay with you guys," Sonic turned to us, green eyes awaiting our answer.

"Are you kidding?" Zil burst. "Heck yes!"

I giggled.

Sonic grinned, before turning to Shahra and rubbing his ring.

"O Master, what is thy wish?" Shahra repeated her bow and tone that I had seen her do before. It must get tiresome to do the same thing over and over again, I couldn't help but think.

Sonic pouted. "Okay, first things first—the name's _Sonic_. Second of all, I wish that you would place that spell on Zil and Crys that you mentioned earlier."

Shahra nodded, and held her hand out for our book. I handed it to her. Gently, she took it, opening it and then placing her other hand on Zil's forehead.

"Alleya juu-ki lumnay socrate dak…" she chanted.

Zil closed her eyes, once again biting her lip profusely. I watched in excitement. Once the genie was finished chanting, she took her hand away, and smiled.

"Now…think of a fairy," Shahra instructed.

Zil nodded hurriedly, and closed her eyes once more.

Then, I saw the most incredible physical transformation in my life.

I watched, with wide dark yellow eyes, as Zil's body started to shift and shrink. Slowly, she started to glow and two little wings came from her back. Then, the transformation was complete, and she was a little bright purple glowing ball with four bright fairy wings.

"Did it work…?" for some strange reason, I could still hear her voice clearly. I was in too much of a shock to answer, but Sonic did.

"Yep. Look at yourself."

It only took a second before my friend started squealing with joy.

"I'm a fairy! I'm a fairy! _I'm a fairy!_"

And her web-like wings were also fluttering a mile-a-minute, I couldn't help but notice. Thus brought up a question of mine…

"Won't we get tired flying for so long?" I asked.

Shahra thought about her answer for a moment before replying. "Yes, and no. Fairies have boundless energy. Because of their light weight, it doesn't take that much strength in wing-flaps to keep them aflight. But their wings, however, continuously flap like a bee's. So, whilst they do use a lot of energy to just fly, fairies can fly steadily for around 24 hours before getting tired."

Sonic whistled.

"That's impossible…" I whispered.

The genie simply shrugged, a small smirk on her face. "Oh, but it isn't. You should look up more about fairies. I'm sure you'd enjoy it. But now, let's get your transformation underway, right?"

Zil bobbed up and down—her glowing ball forming many criss-crossing w's. "Yeah! You won't believe what it's like to be a fairy! Come on!"

I took in a deep breath, my heart beating a mile a minute. What was I waiting for? Oh, but the truth that it was _finally time_ to become a fairy rang through my mind. It was a difficult thought to behold. I nodded, bracing myself.

Shahra smiled, and did the same for me as she did for Zil.

It felt amazing.

I could literally feel almost…_hands_, or something of the like, pressing on my skin, pushing me into a smaller form. I could hear my bones creak, feel my veins tighten. After a while of this, I felt bare, like without my clothes. It was a disturbing thought, but when I opened my eyes, I found I didn't need to fear.

Whilst yes my clothes _had_ vanished, my body was now a tiny, slim figure. It was like I was wearing a skin-tight suit that hid my body to make it look sleek. Except the fact was: I wasn't wearing a suit and this _was_ my body. And then, the more shocking factor was, my body was a complete and shining gold color—just like my eyes.

I found that my glow was a shimmering gold, as well.

"Whoa…too cool!" Zil gasped, flying around me.

It felt totally _weird. _I could feel my wings flapping repeatedly…and yet it was a subconscious effort, like, I didn't have to think about it. It was just like walking. You don't think about it—you just do it.

It was the same with flying for fairies.

It was also at that moment—for some strange reason—that I remembered my hair. What had happened to it while I became a fairy? I reached up with a small, fragile hand to feel behind my head. My hair felt as hard as my new skin. It was still braided, oh yes, but it was the same gold as the rest of me.

In fact, my hair had become a _part _of me.

Weird thought, but that's the way it was for a fairy.

"Well, now that you two have accustomed yourselves to your new bodies, are we ready to go after King Sharyar?" Shahra asked us. She was also in her fairy form, fluttering close.

Now that I got a look at the two, I noticed that Shahra was a deeper, more…serene, almost, shade of purple. Zil, on the other hand, was a bright, cheerful purple. So bright, in fact, that you could almost mistake it for a beautiful, clear white. No, but it was purple. And that was that.

I nodded, but then realized that no one would be able to see me, so I bobbed in a yes fashion.

"Good, then let us be off!"

I turned to see Sonic flash a cheerful smirk—did he have a distant look on his face just a second ago? I faintly wondered—before turning and zooming off.

All we had to do to catch up was will ourselves faster. Like running for a human. You push yourself harder, the result is that you go faster. Same with a fairy. It was fun to experiment with this, and soon, I found me and Zil laughing while pretending to race with each other as we flew happily alongside Sonic.

But our road was not clear, as we had thought it was. There were still some badniks, and Zil and I found that fairies had a weird 'sense' type of thing. It was like we could feel the air being taken up by another presence, and we'd instantly warn Sonic of such danger. It was kinda cool.

_Tenseness in the air. Evil. That way!_

That was pretty much what our fairy-minds were comprehending before we would yell out where the danger was. Weird, but cool at the same time.

"You guys are good at that!" Sonic complimented as he smashed yet another weird ghost-yet-robot-like-villian.

"Tee hee…" was all Zil said before she fluttered around the blue hero's head a teeny bit. "Why, thank you!"

I bobbed in agreement.

And it was then that we heard yet another voice.

"Whew, thank you! I thought I was done for!"

All four of us turned around in time to see none other than a character who looked an awfully lot like Tails step out of a hiding place, dusting himself off. Weird thing was, he was dressed in a red vest and a weird wrapped-up hat upon his head.

I heard Zil gasp loudly in recognition, glow shining brighter, and now looking almost completely white.

I couldn't help but notice that Tails' real voice sounded different than every actor who had played him sounded like. He was young, yes, but had that almost…stuffed-nose tone. Not like in the Sonic Anime, but as in he was young, and his voice made him sound younger than he was (which was what…8 or 9?). Maybe he even had trouble with his l's…?

"Tails?" Sonic sounded completely surprised and blown away. I couldn't blame him. "What are you doing here, too?"

"Tails…?" Okay, so he didn't have trouble with his l's…but his voice made it sound like he would. "My name is Ali Baba…"

Poor guy sounded so afraid. I wished I could hug him and comfort him and tell him everything's okay. He was just like a little kid! But no, that would be weird, and everyone would stare at me like I'm a complete nutcase (which, they're probably not far off that mark).

And, I was a fairy.

It would be a little awkward, don'cha think? 

"Come on, Tails…I know it's you!" Sonic started tapping his foot, furrowing his eyebrows. I couldn't blame him for being frustrated. If this was a joke, and I was in Sonic's shoes, I wouldn't be too happy, either…being dragged along on a fake adventure…

Just then, Shahra condensed to genie form in front of Tails—err, Ali Baba. He didn't seem scared of her at all—maybe he knew her…? Weird thought.

"I'm very sorry," she apologized sincerely. "He seems to have mistaken you for someone else…"

I heard Zil try to stifle her laughter beside me. She seemed to think the whole scene was amusing. I guess it was, but I was in too much focus of taking in every detail for memories later, that I hardly realized how humorous it was when you knew every single line each person would say.

It _was_ kinda funny.

And soon, I found myself trying to not laugh as well.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm still very grateful that you saved me!" Ali Baba replied, a smile spreading on his face.

I turned and barely saw through Zil's glow, the shape of her mouth moving to form the exact words Ali Baba was speaking. That only made it harder not to laugh.

"I might not be very strong," the kitsune continued, "but I've still got some tricks up my sleeve."

It was at this part that I joined in with the mouthing of his words.

"If you ever need my help in return, it would be the least I could do to repay you."

And then, we couldn't hold it in anymore.

We burst out laughing. And we laughed _so hard_.

Ali Baba frowned deeply and Shahra glared at us so coldly, we instantly shut up. In fact, I almost felt like ice was slowly spreading up my spine, her stare was so piercing.

"Thank you, Ali Baba. We appreciate your offer very much," Shahra replied, her gaze gentling as she turned back to the fox. Zil and I exchanged glances as we knew we were in deep, _deep_ trouble. "And we'll be sure to take you up on it soon. Again, thank you."

Ali Baba nodded, seemingly feeling a little better after me and Zil rudely interrupted with laughing. "No problem. I'll see you guys later!" even he seemed to sense the discipline that was about to ensue and wasn't wanting to stick around and witness it. Lucky duck.

Throughout that time, I hadn't realized Sonic also glaring at us. But Zil had, and I had turned just in time to see the last bit of his cold glare—that also seemed to make the 'ice' on my back spread faster and with colder degree—before he turned, and Zil fluttered lower to the ground, ashamed.

I couldn't imagine not having my childhood hero proud of me. And here I was, living it. For some strange reason, I felt numb. Like I couldn't grasp the fact that I was in trouble and that both Sonic—who had moments earlier _had_ been proud of me—and Shahra were _deeply_ mad at me.

And Zil, too.

But I guess we deserved it. Our intentions were good, though. We were just having fun. But that lead to laughing at the _very_ wrong time. Poor Tails (err…Ali Baba). We probably made him feel like a worm when we laughed.

"Sonic…?" Shahra called. She wasn't facing Zil or me…in fact, her back was towards us, but that only made us feel more in trouble.

The hedgehog's ears perked up as he looked towards the genie.

"Go…entertain yourself. We'll join you in a few minutes," Shahra spoke calmly. So calmly, in fact, it was _unnerving_.

He didn't need to be told twice. He took one single step back before his remnants were nothing but a streak of blue. Then, silence.

I tried to not sigh. It seemed like every step in this adventure I was being disciplined for a wrong. Would I ever be in the right…?

"Zil…Crystal…why did you two laugh?" Shahra asked. Still calm, her voice was, but that made me and Zil gulp in anxiety.

"Well…" Zil spoke first. "We…were having fun…"

Before Shahra could as what she meant, I quickly spoke up. "You know how I said this was a video game in the world we came from? Well…we also know every line you guys are going to say from it, so we starting mouthing it, because we remembered what Ta—Ali Baba's words were…"

Silence.

And then.

"I can understand why that would seem funny, but you had no right to laugh after what he had said," was Shahra's answer.

Zil seemed baffled.

"But Shar," she spoke up. "We couldn't help it. We tried to keep quiet—but it was too hard! We _had_ to laugh!"

Shahra sighed. Heavily, might I add. Why did she seem so much like a mother now, and not in the game…? This was probably who her character really was. She had a mother-like personality. They never showed that in the game. It was weird, yet cool at the same time. It made me respect her more, a whole lot more. Shahra was more than the naïve, cheerful genie that promises to accompany Sonic on this adventure. She was a kind, almost regal like person, who cared deeply for every creature she took under her wing.

Why didn't SEGA ever display their characters right…?

There's more to every single character. And at that moment, I couldn't help but wonder what each character really acted like. Sonic was like the wind, Shahra was like a mother…what were the others like? Oh, how I wanted to know!

"You are but children, aren't you…?" Shahra's statement brought me back to reality and to the remembrance that we were still in trouble.

Zil and I laughed nervously at this, but the genie continued.

"I shall let you go for now, but remember young ones…" she spoke as she turned to us, bright metallic blue eyes staring into our glow without a wince. "Remember who you are in the presence of. There is a time for laughter, and there is a time for formality. Know the difference between each."

Both of us bobbed slowly. I was tempted to say, 'Yes, sensei.' And it was apparent Zil was, too, but we didn't, for we remembered Shahra's words.

Shahra smiled at us, proud once more. "Good, then let us be off. We have a pterosaur to catch, don't we?"

Our excitement resumed once more as we bobbed enthusiastically, broad smiles on our faces.

"Yeah! Let's go! Woohoo!" Zil did a loop-de-loop in the air, before flying off in search of Sonic.

I laughed, and followed suit, also doing a loop-de-loop (man was that scary and yet fun at the same time) before catching up with her. Soon, Shahra was also fluttering beside us in her fairy form.

It didn't take long to find Sonic, and soon, we were off, searching to find the lost pterosaur.

I couldn't help but think as we hurried on, that I took back what I thought earlier about every step of this adventure being disciplinary. Every step of this adventure was what was bringing us closer together…as a team. With a smile, I thought:

_As a family_.

Then, I thought of how corny that thought was, and I laughed. Shahra didn't mind.


	6. Chapter 5: Scorpion Encounter

**Author's Notes: **I'm on a roll:D Next chapter already! WOOT! LOL Sorry if it seems a bit…choppy. I was really excited on writing this chapter, and literally, my fingers were flying over the keyboard…but I can't bring myself to change it, so, sorry. (sweatdrop) Enjoy it anyway! The next chapter is already underway! XD

-

"Shahra…is there something special with a fairy's glow?"

We were resting at an oasis we had found in the middle of the Sand Oasis. It's actually kinda funny. The whole level is supposed to be an oasis…but I guess the place was really named after the oasis we were currently residing in.

But anyway, Shahra turned to me, as we were currently not in our fairy forms, and human and genie once more.

"Actually, yes. A fairy's color is determined by their personality and their status," the genie explained.

My eyes weren't looking at her, however, as they were focused on Zil, who was playing in the water, not caring about her clothes ("It's so uber hot, anyway—my clothes'll dry right up!" she had said) and Sonic, who was napping under a palm tree. Shahra and I were sitting on a fallen cement column, my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms around them.

"What do you mean….status? You mean like their health?" I asked.

Shahra shook her head, looking in the direction I was. "No. By what they do in life—what their purpose is, I guess you could say."

I frowned. "How so?"

Shahra's lips formed the faintest of a smile as she replied. "I think you're taking what I am saying the wrong way. Don't forget, I said a fairy's color is determined by status _and_ personality. No two fairies—at the same time--are alike."

"Hmmm…" I hummed as I thought about this. "Explain some of them."

At this, Shahra smiled profoundly. "White, for instance—pure, untainted white—means the highest of purpose, that the fairy has the greatest destiny than any other currently in existence. The closer a fairy's color is to white, the greater their purpose."

This made me think a lot. Zil's color was close to white. Very close to white, in fact. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of destiny the girl had in store for her. She was a good person—a great person. It was no wonder the Creator had destined her for such a purpose…whatever that may be.

"So wait…" I said as a new idea came to mind. "Are you saying that the _shade_ of the color is determined by how great their importance is?"

Shahra nodded, her smile and her voice suddenly solemn. "You've figured it out."

I just realized what I had said. Shahra…Shahra's color was a dark purple. Well, she was a _ring_ genie, with limited powers. But I knew what Shahra was destined for—later in the game. It was a _huge_ purpose, so why was her color such a dark shade? It made no sense.

Then I thought about my shade of gold. It was bright…as if right in the middle. Not too close to white, but not too close to black. I couldn't help but feel average and ordinary. Was I just destined to be a normal girl…?

"What about color? The color, I know, is determined by personality—the shade by their destiny, but give me examples of color," I asked, mainly to change my mind's subject.

At this, Shahra's smile brightened. "Well…if a fairy's color is red, that means that they are strong in will, and majestic in spirit. They come to be very wise and regal with a voice of authority. Pink is if a fairy is bubbly, and hyper. They are always full of energy—more than the average fairy. Orange is a fairy that is friendly and caring. These fairies are often gifted with the rare ability to heal wounds. If a fairy is yellow, then they are very intelligent, and love to solve mathematics and the world's biggest questions. Yellow fairies are often best friends with red ones. Green fairies are highly brave and courageous. They are the warrior fairies who often are found in the fairy tales you hear and read. They can also tend to be a little prideful at times. Blue fairies are like orange fairies—but don't get them mixed up. Blue fairies are graceful, friendly, loving, brave—really, almost the perfect, all-around fairy. They are the rarest to find. A purple fairy is one who is adventurous—a dreamer, almost. They often take up on any opportunity they get. They're spunky, fun, and just love to have a good time wherever they are, even if their heart is with the fantasy world…."

I turned to Shahra, confused. Zil may fit that description, but the genie surely didn't. When she saw my expression, Shahra only laughed.

"I'm not a native purple fairy. Since I am a genie, I can change to any color fairy I wish. Purple's just my favorite color," Shahra explained. "But although I can change my color, I cannot change my shade…"

Then, she continued. "Silver fairies are the worst fairies ever. They are coldhearted, relentless, unmerciful…really, the evilest fairies in existence. In fact, they're the only evil fairies. By some strange curse, they can change other fairies to silver fairies, so you might want to watch yourself if you ever encounter one in your fairy state."

I nodded.

"Then the last color I have yet to mention…gold," Shahra paused, eyeing me to see if I was nervous to hear what my color was supposed to be like.

I didn't answer at first, trying to calm my nerves, before nodding for her to continue.

"Gold fairies are fairies who question many things. They're very curious—always tinkering with things, and discovering new wonders. They also try to take note of everything, taking in every detail so they can remember it later. They relish in memories. Basically, they just cherish life and want to find out more about it. They always seek to know what they can't—or what they shouldn't."

I guess that really did fit me. Now that I knew, I wasn't so scared. In fact, what was I afraid of in the first place?

But right then, I found a reason to be afraid as the ground started shaking. I hopped off of the stone, clinging to the book and looking around. I could hear Zil as she ran up to us, exclaiming, "Move it! Something's coming up from over there!"

I didn't know what she meant by 'there', but I followed her instructions, running from where she was running from. Sonic was running backwards beside us, looking at whatever was 'coming up'.

"Look!" I heard Shahra gasp.

Both Zil and I stopped running, turning around to see what she was talking about.

There, sticking out of a swirling pond of sand, were two reptilian arms with huge eyes on them.

I was freaked. Those arms were about twice as tall as me—maybe three times taller.

Then, the full creature came out of the sand, leaping out and landing to our right. We turned instantly to face it. In fact, I backed up a few steps.

The creature, as it turned out to be, was a huge, purple scorpion with actually six legs and two arms—all of them having a deadly spear at the end. Then, there was that eye…that huge, ugly eye that glared at us as it growled loudly—a weird gurgling sound that was, but it was still terrifying.

All together, the thing was about 5 or 6 times my size.

_It's gonna kill me—it's really gonna kill me. I'm gonna die,_ I thought. Remember that sickening black, cold feeling in my gut that I talked about a few chapters ago? Yeah. I had that same feeling here—except it felt _way_ worse. I actually was so scared, I was _sick_.

"Wh-what do we do?" Zil stammered.

"Shahra!" Sonic turned to the genie, who, to my complete and utter surprise, was staring at the monster bravely and grimly. "Can't you do something about it with your magic?"

Shahra turned to him, seeming to snap out of a daze. Then, her eyebrows lifted as her expression changed to one of sincere apology. "I'm sorry…but my magic is no match for that of a lamp genie…"

To another surprise of mine, I heard Zil barely-audibly spit a cuss word. Although I didn't have time to think of it—the monster was rearing one of his spiked-eyed arms at us.

"Move!" Sonic commanded.

Shahra did as told, but Zil and I, horrified by the whole situation, busted out at the last second. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest, I was afraid it was going to burst.

"I'm so sorry, Sonic…" Shahra apologized once more. "I'm not much of a help on your—"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic turned to her, and me and Zil exchanged glances. The lines were not like this in the game. Hmmm… But we listened closely enough, anyway.

Shahra looked at Sonic, silent and surprised. The hedgehog's gaze was firm despite the chaotic scorpion searching for his lost prey nearby. "You've been a big help, Shahra. If not for you—how else was I to get into the _One Thousand and One Nights_, anyway? You provided a way for Zil and Crys to travel as fast as me, too! And besides, you've cared for us all so far, how can you say that you've not helped us?"

The genie thought about this a moment, staying silent. "Well…"

"See?" Sonic grinned. "I'll have you smiling by the end of this. Just watch—and that's _not_ a command from a master to a genie. That's a promise from a friend to a friend."

Shahra looked up, complete surprise in her eyes. "Friend…?" She said it the word weirdly, as if it was foreign to her.

"Yeah. As a friend…" Sonic's grin never disappeared.

It must've been contagious, because soon, both Zil and I found ourselves smiling, too, despite the danger nearby.

"Besides, we all consider you our friend, Shahra," Zil spoke up.

I nodded in agreement.

Shahra looked at all of us, each in the eyes before turning to the next. "Do you really mean that…?"

"Of course!" I blurted.

A huge growl from the scorpion shook us out of our thoughts. All of us looked up to see it glaring hungrily at us.

"It's go time!" Sonic called out, instantly becoming a tiny but dangerous ball of spikes and launching upwards towards the beast. He landed on his arms' eye a few times, before flying towards the huge eye and hitting it dead center.

The scorpion screamed in frustration and anguish, backing up.

"Quickly, this way!" Shahra urged us as she flew to the right and towards safety. Both Zil and I followed her without question.

But I couldn't help but overhear Shahra's whisper as she murmured, "A promise…." I looked at her, and for a split second, her metallic blue eyes glazed over, as if having a flashback. Then, she snapped out of it, focusing on getting to safety. I couldn't help but also remember this from the game. I looked to Zil, and apparently, she had heard it, too, for she had a distressed look on her face.

"Hide behind here," Shahra commanded, pointing behind the fallen pillar me and the genie had been sitting on just moments earlier…when everything was so peaceful…

Both of us (me and Zil) dove behind the column, enjoying the protection. I couldn't help but think that the National Treasure background music of when Ben Gates is running from Ian and his men fit this situation. Funny how movies are yet aren't like real life adventures.

"Sonic, look out!" I heard Zil yell.

I looked up, seeing that she was peeking over the top of the column. Was she crazy? We could get spotted!

Although the scorpion was probably too busy focusing on Sonic and Shahra, he probably wouldn't pay attention to us…

With that thought in mind, I, too, got on my knees to watch the fight. I couldn't help but be ever so grateful that we were only spectators and not fighters. I had been petrified near the monster—I didn't want to _fight_ it. Badniks were enough, thank you.

But man, was the fight nail-biting. Seeing it in real life—with real blood and real pain and whatnot—was way more edge-of-seat than watching it unfold on a video game as you play it.

Sonic, so far, was unhurt—so was Shahra. But the scorpion? Not so much. His huge ugly eye was uglier than what it had been. It was leaking out with a strange, clear liquid, the slashes in it completely visible. It was utterly _disgusting_. I wanted to throw-up. But apparently, Zil didn't think it was so gross. She was so caught up in the fight, her eyes never blinked once until it was over.

Which was amazing especially because of what happened next.

Shahra (now in fairy form) was shouting something at Sonic. The blue hedgehog was jumping around, avoiding the legs, nodding every once in a while. Then, he leaped up to bounce on one of the arm's eyes.

To say it plainly, the eye literally _popped_.

It just _exploded_, and eye organs and clear, creamy liquid spilled everywhere. I turned around and vomited, not being able to take it. Oh, I wanted to go home…how I wanted to go home! Just take me away from this awful place—this awful fight! 

I sat there, crouched over, shuddering, arms around my stomach, inhaling the scent of my vomit for who-knows-how-long. That image…even though it was just an _eye_, it was still completely disgusting! I preferred staring at my throw-up rather than seeing anything like that again!

Then, I felt a hand on my back, gently rubbing it, and I could hear whispered words of comfort. It was Shahra.

"Hey…shhh…it's over, okay? The fight's over—the scorpion's gone," she said soothingly.

"What about his remains?" I croaked out. I didn't want to see any blood or any organs whatsoever. I just wanted to go _home_.

"Zil and Sonic cleaned that up," Shahra explained.

Zil. Oh, Zil, were you brave beyond compare or just completely idiotic? I didn't know, but I preferred to think she was crazy to have been able to clean up a mess like that eye—maybe even more, depending on what it took for Sonic to defeat it.

Still shaking, I stood up, trying to calm myself.

"There you go…" Shahra said, with a small smile. "You okay now?"

I nodded, even though I wasn't completely sure. Then, I remembered something. "The book…where's the book?" 

"Zil has it," Shahra explained.

I looked around, as my limbs and such started to not shake anymore. The area was clean. No clear liquid…no disgusting organs…no blood…

"Where are they?" I asked.

"At the oasis. Sonic needed to clean up after the fight, and Zil had to as well after helping to clear it up," Shahra told me.

I nodded. Zil just had to be crazy. Sonic, too. And even Shahra. Who'd want to face terrifying monsters like that every day? Certainly not me. Movies were enough for me, thank you.

"You ready to rejoin them? We still have to find King Sharyar…" Shahra reminded.

King Sharyar. Oh right. That pterosaur…

I closed my gold eyes. "Just _please_ tell me we don't have to fight the dinosaur, and I'll come…" I groaned.

I didn't see Shahra smile, but she did as she said, "We won't. Come on…"

And so, once again in our fairy forms, we made our way back to the oasis. It wasn't a long trip, and soon I found Zil also in her fairy form as we discussed which way the pterosaur went.

My mind was in a blur as we (more like _they_) discussed this. Zil seemed to notice, for as soon as we were off, she fluttered beside me, asking, "Hey, Crys…you okay? After that eye—"

"Don't mention it!" I interrupted. Rather rudely, actually, and a few seconds later, I apologized for doing so.

"Don't worry about it," Zil replied. "Not all people can handle stuff like that."

"And _you_ can…? How do you do it, anyway?" Now that I thought about it, Zil was _very_ brave. I didn't understand why she wasn't a green fairy. She certainly seemed she could be a warrior. She was strong, courageous…way tougher than me.

Zil laughed. "I just do. It's not like I'm used to it—I've never seen stuff like that before in my life. But I guess it's just a new side of me I've never seen before…being brave…"

My head hung as I felt a jealous and yet heart-twinging feeling sweep over me. "I'm not brave…" I mumbled quietly.

But Zil heard.

"Crys…" here, my friend paused, and I turned to look at her, but through her bright glow, I couldn't see her expression. Then, she continued, as if choosing her words very carefully. "People mistake bravery for being able to handle even the scariest of things or the grossest of things. But real bravery, real courage? That's when—and I know its not like me to say this, but—real courage is when you do what you know God wants you to do, what's right, no matter how afraid you are, or what the odds are. It's like what they say, you know? You gotta do what you gotta do, and courage is basically that."

A slow smile spread over my face. I opened my mouth to respond, but Zil must've not noticed and thought the silence meant something bad, for she quickly spoke up.

"I know it's not like me to talk about God like that, but…"

I fluttered over, twirling around her for comfort, since I couldn't lay a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what you said was right, though. Real courage is doing what God wants you to do, even if you don't wanna do it. You showed it right then, by saying what the Holy Spirit was telling you, even if you don't fully believe in Him."

Silence.

"Can we…talk about this later…?" Zil asked. From the tone of her voice, she seemed a tad bit uncomfortable about the subject.

I smiled. "Sure."

Zil and I returned our attention back to Sonic and Shahra, and as we did, I barely caught sight of a proud smile on Shahra's face before she also turned to face the road ahead of us…


	7. Chapter 6: First World Ring

**Author's Notes:** (wipes away a tear) Ah…you don't know how happy I am. I had no idea this story would be so famous! 50 reviews! It seems too good to be true…

God is good. n.n God is very good.

Anyways, I hope you guys have already read my profile and ate your cookies. If not, then I made some extras ones. n.n (hands out giant plate of cookies) Enjoy!

-

I had never really realized how hungry I was. That is, not until Zil was the first one to voice her discomfort…

"I'm hungry!" she said plainly as we were flying (and running, considering Sonic) along.

Then, I realized that I, too, was hungry. So I voiced that as well. That made all four of us stop (and making Shahra turn me and Zil back to humans).

"You are…?" Sonic asked. Upon seeing our nodding heads, he continued. "Well…" He scratched right behind his ear for a moment, before turning to Shahra. "You think you can make us something to eat?"

Shahra side-eyed him. "You mean _you're_ hungry, too?"

"That was implied," Sonic replied coolly. It sounded kinda odd for Sonic to say such a word like 'implied', but again, I had to remind myself, there was much to learn about my childhood hero. Much, much to learn.

Shahra didn't say anything, to our surprise, and for a long while, there was silence and no movement. I was confused, but Zil was the one to ask the question that ran through my head. "Well? Aren't you gonna chant something already?"

Shahra's response was silence. Then, she turned to Sonic. All too suddenly, It clicked for me. I tried to stop the gasp that worked its way up my throat, turning my head to our three-foot-friend.

"Sonic…" I called in a sing-song voice. The blue one turned to me. I mouthed, 'The ring.' Then _bam! _ It seemed to click for him as well.

Without hesitance, Sonic rubbed the ring on his finger, and Shahra—with a broad smile, I noted (did it look genuine?)—bowed down in high reverence once more to him.

"Oh, master…what is thy wish?" she asked.

And then, it clicked for Zil. Before she could say, "Ohhhhhhhhhh!" I shushed her, although I didn't want to be rude. Zil seemed to understand, and kept silent as we watched the scene unfold.

Sonic smiled ('grinned' didn't seem to be the right word for it). "Make three plates of…" And then, to Zil and I's greatest surprise, he thought for a minute.

Of course, being a natural Sonic fan, I couldn't help but think, _Chili-dogs…?_

It was evident Zil was thinking the same thing, for her expression was one of: "Come on, say it…"

But to our next greatest surprise, Sonic first turned to us, asking, "Well, what do you guys want to eat?"

Zil gasped, a huge—and when I say huge, I mean _huge_—smile overtaking her features, her hands clasping in front of her excitedly. "Can we have anything we want?"

Sonic side-eyed Shahra with a raised eyebrow, and the genie seemed to smile even wider.

"Anything edible is within my power," she answered, a tan hand laid upon her chest.

Zil gasped again, jumping up and down for joy. "Really? _Really_?! Are you serious? This is awesome!"

I laughed openly. Zil's excitement was just so uplifting in a way words could not describe. Seeing her so happy…brought peace to my soul. However corny it sounds, it was really true. It comforted me that she could be so joyful in a time of such distress, such adventure, such pressure of having to save the world.

But I couldn't stop the little voice in the back of my head that whispered, _Are you protecting her…?_

That was odd—and especially at such a time! Crazy, even! Protecting her…? Zil?! What did _she_ need protecting for? Heck, she was _so_ much braver than me! She'd probably be able to fight ten guys surrounding her, one arm tied behind her back!

…okay, maybe not, but you get the point.

So why did I feel like I was protecting her?

And yet, all the same, I knew the answer.

_Like all of your other friends, you want to see her happy. That, more than anything, gives you the greatest joy. And you know it._

Yes. I did now it. It was corny, and I knew that, too. But I always wanted to see people with a smile on their face. Then I know they're happy. Even if they are feigning it, at least they have the heart to do such a thing to make me feel better. That means a lot to me.

I'm weird. I know. It's ok. You get used to it after you start followin' Christ.

But let me tell you: once you do, your life is never the same.

_Trust_ me on that one.

But back to Zil…

Why did I want to protect her from sadness, anyway? I mean, I've never seen her before in my life! What did she mean to me besides a friend?

Stupid question (and oddly worded, I realize now, but it was what I had thought then).

She's _God's creation_.

Just like me.

The Master and Designer took great care in creating her (heck, she was a Child of Destiny; He probably took _uber _great care in creating her!).

And if God loved her…

…then I did, too. But not in the way you people think.

It's not the lovey-dovey love I feel for her (which would be gross). It's the…pure love. The kind of love that really only comes from Him. To put it more clearly…

It's _compassion_.

No…no…it was greater than compassion. It's just…God's love. There are no other words to describe it.

It's His love.

And as soon as that thought reached my mind, the world seemed to slow down. Literally. I looked at Zil, and she was still smiling broadly, hands clapping excitedly, and hair dancing in the wind…

…and it was almost like I could taste a glimpse of how God felt about her.

I didn't want her to face what evils the world could give her. I didn't want her to face drugs, betrayal, the lie that death is the way to freedom. I wanted her to be happy, always happy…

But that can't happen.

A sudden twinge on one of my heart strings pulled so hard, it was almost like physical pain.

What used to be such a wondrous place has turned into a world of suicide, war, and hate.

There are few people to date who have stood out amongst it all; who have given all they had to make the world a better place. But each year…each numbing year…our precious earth becomes worse and worse…

I didn't want Zil to live in such a place. But there wasn't anything I could do about it. She was here, and that was that.

But, perhaps I could make the most out of it…

I smiled gently to myself. Yes, that was what I would do, I decided. I would make the best of her life while I was here—in fact, I'd make the best out of Sonic and Sharah's life! Who says the adventure has to be all gloom and doom…? I can make it better, make the load lighter! _How?_ the little voice inside questioned me. But I knew the answer. I had had it all along.

It was by spreading God's love just like He commanded me to in His word.

_Oh, Father…_I silently prayed. _Please be with me and guide me as I try to carry out this idea. Only You can bring true happiness to people. I wonder…if You would mind…could You use me like You have used so many other people…?_

"Crys…hey, Crys!"

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning to the speaker (and I hadn't been even able to finish my prayer!). It was Zil. She was literally waving in my face. Despite the rudeness, I merely laughed.

"What is it, Zil?" I asked, still smiling. I felt so different, even if it had been only a matter of seconds.

"It's time for you to order what you want!" that huge smile had never left Zil's face, I happened to notice, and that only made me all the more happy.

By some spontaneous idea, I turned to Shahra to recite my order. And to her surprise (I knew she was so because of the way her eyes widened and her mouth opened as if saying, "Really?"), I said two meager words that seemed to make her day.

"Surprise me."

Her dumb-stricken expression quickly changed to a wide smile a few minutes after I said that, and then she bowed to me in high respect, as if doing it for Sonic.

"As you wish…"

"Oh, oh! Surprise me, too! Forget what I said earlier! Surprise me!" Zil was still smiling even as she jumped up and down in excitement. I laughed. And so openly, I felt silly. But I was truly happy—Zil was happy, Shahra was smiling, and even Sonic was grinning, those ever-shining emerald eyes twinkling with an emotion I could not name. Perhaps it was another God-thing.

Yeah. It was probably that.

"As you wish," Shahra bowed to her as well, before turning to Sonic. "And you, Master…?"

The hedgehog shrugged casually. "I'll have whatever they're getting."

Shahra nodded. "All right then!" And with a snap of her fingers, there again was that magic carpet that had taken me into the world of the Arabian Nights, decorated with plates full of a foreign food.

"Oooo…" Zil murmured excitedly as she knelt her place at the 'table'. There were a few seconds of silence before she asked the inevitable, "…what is it?"

Shahra smiled, the twinkle of laughter in her metallic blue eyes. "It's one of my favorite recipes—and ancient Arabian dinner of camel with a special hot sauce on top."

"Camel…?" I repeated. It made sense though, but now as I saw it, I wasn't so sure it was appetizing. It almost looked like lamb chops…only bigger. And I had never had lamb chops before. And that 'special hot sauce' really only looked like a weird Mexican tomato soup kinda thing—with basil.

Sonic wasted no time in kneeling down and beginning to eat. Again, for some weird reason, there were silverware ready and glasses full of milk for us to drink. How did Shahra know all of earth's customs…?

It only reminded me of how she knew my exact shoe size—and the fact that I needed socks. She was from this book, for goodness sake! How did she know these things?

"Oh my gosh—this is so good! Crys, you gotta try this!" Zil's eyes were as big as lollipops as she said this.

I looked at her, snapping out of my reverie, before letting my eyes drift to the plate before me. Well…it was now or I go hungry…besides, I _did_ let myself say, 'surprise me'…

So there I knelt, grabbing my fork and having my first bite of camel ever.

It actually wasn't so bad. Zil was right—it _was_ mighty delicious. The cream on top was almost like buffalo sauce, and the camel went right with it so well.

All in all, we were _stuffed_ by the time we were done eating. Who knew camel could be so filling…?

"I take it you liked it," Shahra said with a smile as she snapped her fingers once more and the whole 'table'—along with the leftover food—was gone.

"No, no. The sauce was too hot—might've wanted to cool it down a bit," Sonic grinned, standing up. As he dusted himself off, he added, "I'm just kidding. That was great, Shahra. Never had camel before—but now I know where I can get some more!"

"It was so good!" Zil added, jumping to her feet. "I loved it!"

I nodded, smiling. "I did, too. That was brilliant, Shahra. Thank you."

The genie bowed, smiling widely. "Do not speak of it."

There was silence for a while as Sonic stretched a bit. Then, when he was done, he said, "Ready to get rollin'?"

We all nodded with various comments like, "Oh yeah!" and "Yep!"

"Then let's get crackin'!" Sonic exclaimed, bending over to zoom off.

In a second, Zil and I found ourselves back in our fairy forms.

And then, we were off.

But…

You wanna know what the weirdest thing was…? While we were busting Erazor's henchmen, and cracking jokes here and there…I was having the time of my _life_. I never would've thought that after a while, those 'phantoms' wouldn't hold any fear over me. But it was true. No longer was I afraid of those puny little 5-foot enemies. It was a surprising feeling to me.

I guess it came after having faced a huge, many-eyed scorpion...

But I was seriously laughing myself to death and even making the others laugh as well. It was so much _fun_!

"Hey, I got an idea!" Sonic smirked at us as we approached yet another henchman. "Let's play baseball!"

"Ooooo! Yes! I love baseball! I wanna be the batter!" Zil exclaimed.

Shahra laughed, but abided to the girl's wish, making her human once more, with a wooden bat in hand.

"Sweet, Shar! Thanks!" Zil grinned, taking notice of the new accessory.

Shahra nodded, her smile remaining.

Then, the fun part came. Sonic sped up, zooming behind one of the henchmen (he wasn't running nearly as fast as he usually did when we were around in our fairy forms—we couldn't keep up with his usual speed _at all_) and curling into a little ball. No more than five seconds later, he released all his bent-up energy, striking the henchmen right in the back and launching him into the air.

Zil took position, smiling, but trying to act serious all the same. "Foooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuur!" she cried, then smacking the henchmen away with all her strength. To her surprise, it didn't go up into the air like she apparently had wanted (it was evident in her surprised look). Once the bat collided with it, it just poofed into thin air.

There was a moment of silence, before the girl giggled nervously. "Um…wrong sport?"

We all shared some good laughs after that, continuing our journey with various fun tricks and such.

And it was then that we saw it…

"Whoa, hey! What's that…?" Zil exclaimed. We all skidded to a halt to join what our friend was looking at. Once at her side, I could see what she was talking about. A little ways off, there was something glittering in the sand. I was tempted to ask, 'What is it…?' but Zil had basically already asked that question.

Sonic paused a moment, before stepping forward. "Well, let's go find out!"

And with that, all of us jogged towards it (well, Zil and I flew; we were not out of our fairy forms).

However, not long before we had started moving, Shahra stopped suddenly, gasping, hand covering her mouth, eyes widening. Her expression was one of pure shock—or was it terror?

Either way, we all turned to her.

"What's wrong, Shahra?" Sonic asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sonic…there it is! That's a World Ring!" her voice shook with such a confusing emotion, even now I have a hard time figuring out what it was.

But her comment made both Zil and I freeze. We exchanged nervous glances, knots tying up in our stomachs. A World Ring…?

Shahra floated forward, in her genie form, and reached down to pick the shining, yellow object up. But her hand went through it just like a vapor. It was kinda unnerving to see such a thing…to see a substantial hand go_ through_ a substantial object. But Zil didn't make a comment, so neither did I.

"I can't pick it up…" she murmured. But the way her voice said it plainly, it was almost like she already _knew_ she wasn't able to get a grasp on the ring.

Zil and I exchanged glances again. So far, things were going according to the game, but we both knew that already, things were far different when we were here than when it was just Sonic and Shahra. We braced ourselves.

"Let me try," Sonic offered, walking over. His little flame flickered with life and determination—funny how that little fire seemed to base itself off of its beholder. He bent down on one knee, reaching out to grab it…

"Wait, Sonic!" Zil interrupted. I reached over with a small hand, nudging her. Why'd she do that…?

Zil looked at me, and I caught the briefest look of apology, before turning back to Sonic, who's attention—and Shahra's—was fixed on her.

Under the sudden looks, and not knowing exactly what she was planning, Zil began to fidget. "Well…um…are you sure you wanna try and pick it up…?"

Sonic furrowed her eyebrows, shrugging. "I don't see why not. What's the harm in grabbing a _ring_?"

But at that moment, everything suddenly came together for me. I knew what Zil was thinking. And then, I couldn't help but want what she wanted, too. To have somebody else pick up the ring…

If Sonic did grab the ring, then that was it. He would have to grab the others, and then be the object of sacrifice to open the portal to other worlds. Both Zil and I knew it.

It all started with this single ring. Up until then, he was just a hero trying to save the world—who's life was bound by the flame on his chest. But once he touched this ring, he would forever be the final piece in opening the portal between worlds. Not only would Erazor be out for his blood—but any other evil being who knew of the World Rings and what they could do. He would forever be that last needed item to open the portals between worlds.

But then again…that was how the game went. It's how it's supposed to happen, right? Everything would turn out fine in the end—Sonic wouldn't die in sacrifice to open the portals. So why was it so hard to just let nature go the way things are supposed to go…?

"Never mind," I murmured in response, sending my own apologetic glance to Zil.

But Zil seemed to understand. We couldn't stop fate…

But little did we know a simple thing like having Sonic collect the rings would be one of the greatest regrets of our lives…even now, my heart cringes at the thought…

Anyway, Sonic shrugged, picking up the ring. Instantly, he stiffened, static electricity shooting up his arm from the ring. "_Ow!_"

With a sickening heart and a deep, empty feeling beginning to churn in our stomachs, both Zil and I then knew his fate was sealed.

"'When the seven rings that control the worlds are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open. But the life of the collector of the rings shall be offered up in sacrifice as the key for that control.' That's what is written in the newest chapter of the Arabian Nights…" Shahra said quietly. Even, she, too, knew the consequences (then why didn't she say anything, the back of my mind wondered).

Sonic turned to her, eyes wide, and hand still gripping the ring. "Say _what?_ I'm supposed to be a sacrifice?!"

Shahra paused for a moment, turning away. "I…I'm not sure. It's…it's still a mystery to me…"

Both Zil and I weren't watching Shahra, however. We had our attention solely fixed on Sonic to see what his reaction would be. So far, he was just standing there, stiff, eyes wide, and hand numbly gripping the ring.

It was hard to read him just by his actions…but if you were fast enough, sometimes you could catch a sorrowful glance, or a heavy sigh, or a bitten-back smirk, or a short but hearty laugh. This time, though…even his eyes didn't say anything about what he was feeling inside.

Zil and I couldn't help but think we had made a big mistake.

There was silence for a long, long while before Sonic reached up with his free hand to play with the arrow stuck to his chest. "Well…since this is here, I guess I'm in a pinch either way, right…?" He gave a few chuckles after that, but I couldn't help but notice they sounded empty and hollow—devoid of his usual, jovial life.

"Oh, Sonic…" Shahra turned around, and it was then I found she had been crying, for tears were still falling down her lightly tan cheeks. "This is all my fault. I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. We'll make it out somehow—where there's a will, there's a way, right?" Sonic grinned, but even then, his eyes didn't shine the way they used to when he smiled like that. I reached up a small, glass-like hand to my chest. Oh, how it hurt…

Shahra looked at him for the longest time, tears slowly falling two by two down her cheeks. "Sonic…don't lie. I know you're upset—you have to be. There's no way—"

"Hey," Sonic turned to her, and this time, his eyes showed complete honesty. There was no mistaking the sincerity in his voice as he said, "I'm in a win-win situation."

At hearing and seeing our shocked and confused expressions, Sonic grinned—a genuine grin, I realized, and his eyes seemed to sparkle with another unnamable emotion.

"What do you mean?" Zil exclaimed. She, above us all, was the most confused.

Sonic turned to her—his emerald eyes shining knowingly. "There's two outcomes of this…right? Either I die as a sacrifice or because of this flame, and finally see my Creator. Or, I make it out somehow and live to tell of God's great mercy."

And then, there was another shocked silence.

Even I was dumbfounded. I knew Sonic was a Christian—I had discovered that before. But to hear him say such words…it only made it more real. Maybe a little odd and out of place, but it was still so amazing. I admired Sonic's bravery. To stare Death in the face, not afraid of what your for-sure fate was, and still glorify God…

It was amazing.

But as soon as an awed smile started to tug at the corners of my mouth, Zil shouted abruptly.

"You're crazy!"

All of us turned to her, surprised by the outburst. Her light was flickering wildly, as if some confused yet angered emotion was running through her.

"Sonic, _you're going to die_! Don't you realize that?" she continued.

Sonic shrugged. "I might. I might not. There's no telling."

But before he even finished, Zil had already resumed. "How can you believe in Him in a time like this? I mean…" the fairy looked around, as if trying to find something to focus on or to get support from, before continuing, "…how do you know He isn't just made up? And what if He is? Then you'll have lived and died in vain, Sonic! We need you! You can't just go off not caring if you die!" And then, as if her head was in deep pain, Zil grabbed at it, making a loud whining sound. "You just can't die…"

Shahra and I turned to Sonic, waiting for his response. It was a few seconds before one came.

"Zil…He exists. I know He does—"

"—but how can you place all your bets—your _life_—on something you don't even see? Something you can't even understand!" Zil interrupted. Her voice was desperate, I noted. But desperate for what? Desperate to understand or desperate to get _him_ to understand?

Sonic's reply was his signature smirk. My heart leaped at the sight of it. It was the first time this whole adventure I had seen him smirk so. Sure, I might've seen him smirk. But not his cocky smirk—not the one that he always used to laugh Death in the face, the one that always made Eggman beyond ticked…

The one he was famous for.

But I saw it then, and I couldn't help but start to grow my own smirk (although I bet it was no where near as cool as his was).

"Zil…I'm surprised," he said quietly. It was almost eerie how calm he was replying. "You'd think after having played all those video games, you would've realized how I work…"

My smile widened. How could even _I_ have missed it? His theme song, of course! Why, even the chorus goes: "It doesn't matter, now what happens. I will never give up the fight! Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight. It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right." And even later in the song, it says, "…place all your bets on the one you think is right."

Sonic was risky. That much was for sure. He wasn't afraid to put his life on the line—would do so, without a bat of an eye, for his friends. And now, I realized, he wasn't afraid to place all his bets on his beliefs, either. He knew he could trust God. Whether it was His plan he die, or His plan he live, it would all go according to His will. So he had nothing to worry about. He just had to do what God wanted him to do—and He would take care of the rest.

I was kinda jealous how the hedgehog could have such easy, undying faith in Him. I mean, I always asked questions. I was always doubting what God wanted me to do—about His will. But Sonic wasn't. He followed whatever the Holy Spirit told him, with full confidence.

It's kinda funny, actually. The only One who can tell the wind where to go, where to blow, is also the only One who can tell Sonic what to do, when to do it.

Ah, there was still much, much more I had to learn about my childhood hero…

"We'd better get going…" Zil's voice spoke up quietly. I couldn't help but notice there was a hint of confusion, hurt—defeat?—as she said that. It made my heart twinge with pain.

But Sonic nodded gently in response, tucking away the World Ring inside his spines. Shahra, seeing Sonic do so, nodded as well, becoming a fairy once more. We all shared silent glances as we confirmed with each other we were ready, before we burst off.

And all the while, it bothered me deep down how silent our journey was then. There was no laughter, no jokes, like there had been. It was almost like…there had grown an enmity between us, between our team.

I didn't like it one bit.


	8. Chapter 7: Making Amends

**Author's Notes: **All right, peeps. I'm just gonna say this now so I don't have to later. What is written later on in the story isn't really true. I just made that up. XP (Although the part about how I used to have an unhealthy obsession over yellow _is_ true, sadly…) But…oh, you'll know what I mean when you read that part. XP Just know now that whatever is mentioned later isn't true. Got it? Cool. Now read on. (puts on sunglasses and sips lemonade)

-

A loud, obnoxious scream filled the air as King Sharyar plummeted down. We had finally located the pterosaur, and just when we were ready to save him…

It must've been at least four hours ago when we'd first set off to follow the pterosaur and save the king. Surprising that the dinosaur held on to him that long—and even more surprising that we were still in Sand Oasis when we finally caught up with him. But here he was, the pterosaur finally bored of his game, and King Sharyar falling, close to the edge of the cliff…

I couldn't stop the gasp from my throat as reality kicked in. Oh, no! Quick, somebody catch him! Or else—

A grotesque image of the king's head colliding with the cliff as the rest of his body would continue falling downwards crossed my mind, and I shuddered, turning away. I couldn't bear the sight if something like that happened…

I heard Shahra's loud gasp-like scream, and instantly was glad I had turned away. But I couldn't help wonder what had happened. There was silence for a few moments before…

"How dare you be so late! I am the King! Must you be so rude?"

King Sharyar! My head snapped around, wings fluttering with new hope (I was still but a fairy), and saw (much to my amusement), Sonic standing at the edge of the cliff, arms crossed over his chest, and holding the fat king up just by his foot, which was under the king's large collar. I giggled, and so did Zil. The scene was overall very funny.

But Shahra changed Zil and I back to our human forms, and we walked over, helping the king up onto solid ground. Sonic stood a few steps back, a cocky smirk on his face. He was evidently proud of having agitated the king. Heh. I guess even if King Sharyar wasn't really Eggman, it still gave Sonic the pretense to annoy him. Some things never change.

"Are you all right, sire?" Shahra asked as the rotund man stayed on his hands and knees even after Zil and I had helped him up. From what I saw, it seemed as though the experience of what he'd just been though had caught up with him. His face displayed his every inside emotion—horror. I guess he finally must've realized how close to death he had come.

"Yes, yes…I'm quite all right…" he muttered, still obviously shaken. He pushed himself up—Zil and I shared a glance, and then stepped back to give him room—to stand, legs shaking a little. The king closed his eyes for a moment, as if settling himself, before his face turned beet red, a completely new emotion taking over him. King Sharyar's eyes flashed open as he looked among us to find the one he wanted to blame. It wasn't that hard to find the blue one…he _did _kinda stand out…

"You—spiky thing! What took you so long?" the king barked.

Sonic shrugged, seemingly not at all offended by the accusation. "Eh. You look like some guy I know. Old feelings die hard."

Zil and I suppressed another fit of giggles.

The king, hearing us, turned fast to face us. He opened his mouth to remark some loud comment, but then, Shahra interrupted.

"King Sharyar," she called his attention to him. The king turned to the genie, and so it seemed his anger subsided. Talk about bipolar…but Shahra paid no heed. She truly hadn't even noticed the king get angry. She had been floating over the edge of the cliff, staring ahead into the horizon, where the hot Arabian sun was beginning to set…

_Whoa, wait a minute, _I thought. _My first day here…is almost already over…?_ But I could no longer think of the thought as the king replied to Shahra, "Yes?"

"Where did that spirit fly off to…?" It wasn't like she had been truly wondering which direction it had gone. She had seen it fly off—she had been watching it the entire time. How did I know this? Well, I kinda jumped to conclusions, but it seemed pretty obvious when she pointed to the distant, dark-looking palace far-off.

King Sharyar stepped up to stand beside the genie, as if to get a closer look as to what she was pointing at. Then, his face paled. "Just as I feared…" he whispered.

"Wait, what…?" Zil asked, confused. She walked up to join the two and get a glimpse of what they were talking about. "What are you afraid of?" She put a hand over her eyes to shield the bright, setting sun as she looked off towards the distant castle.

"That…" King Sharyar pointed to the palace that we were all facing, now that all of us were gathered on the cliff to stare out at it. Surprisingly enough, there was room for all five of us to stand side-by-side on it. But I didn't have time to think about this, for the king continued speaking. "…is the Evil Foundry. It's a cursed, forbidden relic of an ancient kingdom…more advanced than anything we have ever known…"

"Advanced…?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. I was standing beside the king himself as I asked, "How so?"

King Sharyar's eyes were distant, as if looking beyond into something none of us could see, as he said, "It is filled with many strange creatures—things I have never seen before. Erazor has called them 'robots'—'machines'." Sharyar sighed, before adding, "Not even my most skilled guards could stop those creatures…they are used as Erazor's henchmen—I'm sure you come across them before—and I fear now, that he may be gathering a large assembly of them to fully take over this land…"

My eyes widened. Machines? In the Arabian Nights? How could Erazor? He was ruining the story! There weren't _supposed_ to be robots in here! This was supposed to be the land of Aladdin, of Sinbad—of all those little Arabian fairy tales we'd heard as kids! It just wasn't right to bring things from our world (or Sonic's, technically; Earth has not yet figured out how to create robots that work like the ones here do) into this place. It was…absurd, wrong…revolting.

"We know what we have to do," Sonic said quietly. I leaned forward, looking at him from the far side of the group. He was on the other, but I could still see him clearly. His blue fur reflected the setting sun's light, giving him an almost dark violet look. His face was firm, yet soft, and his eyes were shining with something I could not name. And at that moment…he truly looked like a hero. Oh, how different he seemed than how I and some other fanfiction authors described him…he was so much, much more…how could I not have seen it…? 

Shahra nodded in response to Sonic's comment, eyes also staring off into the horizon, where Evil Foundry was. "We must stop that assembly. The people of this land aren't able to fight back against these robots…but…" Here she stopped, sharing side-glances between Sonic and Zil, before continuing, "…we can. And so, we must do our part."

Zil looked down at the vast land below us, noticing all the different obstacles. "It'll be a long trip…" she noted, her voice solemn, and yet having a hint of undying enthusiasm in it. "…and it looks like we'll be going through a different type of area other than Sand Oasis."

And Zil was right. Despite the night starting to creep onto us, I could still see what she was talking about. Below the cliff, and spreading onward, all the way to Evil Foundry, was what looked like a tropical rainforest. Well, somewhat. But it didn't take long to figure out what its inhabitants were…

"Dinosaurs," I whispered in awe. From this angle, I could only see a few small figures of dinosaurs moving. But what would it be like to actually see them…? The real deal…? I imagined I'd be terrified, but I couldn't help but anticipate the experience. Dinosaurs…no one on Earth was able to see them! They'd become extinct! But here…would I finally be able to stand face to face with one…?

The thought was terrifying, yet thrilling.

"Tomorrow," King Sharyar spoke up, shaking me out of my daydream. I looked up at him, confused, but he wasted no time in continuing. "Tomorrow you will go and stop Erazor's plans. It is too late right now, and we cannot have our heroes tired and weak against that evil genie. You need all the strength you can get."

And so, it was decided, that King Sharyar let us sleep in his palace that night, and that tomorrow morning, we would set off with hopes of destroying the building attack.

Sadly, dear reader, I felt like I was becoming a part of a war.

-

"Ya know…it _is_ really nice of Sharyar to let us sleep here…" Zil muttered hesitantly.

It had been silent ever since Zil and I had been shown our sleeping quarters. We had to share one, and although we both agreed, I'm sure both of us felt a little edgy towards one another—like something was keeping us apart. It was like that enmity that had been between our team earlier had now stopped and gathered in between Zil and I, focusing on keeping us against each other.

But now, Zil had just broken the uneasy silence as we both sat on the stone bench in front of an elegant mirror, brushing our hair. King Sharyar once had children (disgusting thought, but the way he had described them—with such fondness and admiration—washed those negative feelings away instantly), and the room we were going to sleep in had once been his twin daughters'. Even the two Arabian night gowns we were wearing had been his daughters'.

Unfortunately, those children and his wife had died when Erazor had started his invasion.

"Yes…" I mumbled as I absent-mindedly continued to brush my wavy orange hair that was now free from being in a braid. "…I suppose he isn't at all mean like Eggman is…"

Silence again.

I fidgeted unconsciously. I did not like this silence—this barrier between us. It was making me uncomfortable. Besides, Zil was supposed to be my friend, right…?

And hadn't I decided I wanted to make her life better…?

I sighed, ceasing to brush my hair, and instead laid the ceramic brush down on the dresser. Yes. I had decided I wanted to spread God's love. And Zil _was_ my friend. So I should treat her as such. But I still felt uncomfortable…like there was something between us…

"…I know what you're thinking…"

Zil's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to face her, and saw that she, too, had stopped brushing her hair, and had laid the brush she had been using on the dresser as well. Her silver eyes were downcast, as if ashamed—or was it in deep thought?

But I said nothing as my friend continued to speak. "It's what Sonic said…I just can't get it out of my head…"

Zil paused a moment. Then she raised her eyes to the mirror, and I followed suit. "I feel like it's all wrong…that Sonic's a Christian…it seems out of place…like it wasn't meant to happen…but it has…"

I turned to Zil, tongue searching about my mouth, trying to find what to say. I couldn't find what would be the _perfect _thing to say, but I had at least found _something _to say. "Well…" I murmured. "…things like that are always meant to happen. At least, that's what I believe."

"But see, that's just it!" Zil turned to me, her silver eyes boring into mine firmly, yet begging for answers. "What you and I believe are two different things. We don't see things the same way. You believe that there is a God. I believe there isn't. Beliefs like that change a whole lot of views on life."

I bit my lip, and turned away. "I know that."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Zil turn back to the mirror, eyes blazing. "I mean…I'm so tired of every single person in my life believing in God! It's like every where I turn, I'm being forced to believe in Him. Isn't there a way I can believe what I want…?"

"But what if what you want to believe in isn't true…?" I asked quietly, my eyes still not looking up at my friend. "There's a difference between what is true and what you think—or what you want--is true."

Zil stood up, turning away so her back could face me. "I know—but I'm tired of people trying to make me a Christian! I just wanna live the way I want to—is that so hard to ask for?"

"No…" I choked out—not even missing a beat, to my surprise—and my eyes starting to water. "…that isn't hard to ask for at all…"

I could see out of the corner of my eye Zil turn to me in surprise, as if she hadn't expected for me to reply in such a way. But I don't think it was what I said that surprised her, though. I think it was _how_ I said it. My voice had cracked; I had been near crying. And why…?

Zil could not see the light. "Oh, if only…if only…" my heart—my mind—my soul cried. If only she could understand—those who were trying to get her to become a Christian were only doing so because they loved her. They didn't want her condemned to Hell. If only she had read NetRaptor's "Emerald Madness." Maybe then she would've seen—felt the awesome power of God. If only I had the wisdom to say the right things that would touch her, help her decide that with God was best. If only I had the things to prove that He exists. Oh, if only, if only, if only…

But I did not cry, although I was close to. I blinked back my tears, sniffing, wiping my nose against the back of my hand, and then brought myself up to look at Zil. We stared at each other for a long, long moment, before…

"Crys…I don't want our beliefs to get in the way of our friendship, okay…?" Zil said, taking a deep breath, before adding. "As long as you don't poke and prod me to become a Christian, I think we'll be all right."

I stared at her for a minute, and came close to tears once again. But I hid it—and apparently hid it well for Zil did not notice—and nodded, feigning a smile. "All right. As long as we can be friends…"

"Good friends," Zil smiled back. I was glad now that she was smiling. It suited her better than having a frown.

I nodded. "Good friends…" But deep down, I knew I would always feel that enmity between us. I knew she wouldn't feel it, but I would. I would always feel it…but it wouldn't be a bad, hateful barrier. It would be a sad, longing barrier. A barrier I wished I could reach across just to pull her to safety…a barrier I wished didn't exist. But it did, and I would probably be the only one to ever notice it.

Zil giggled a little bit. "You look like you're gonna cry…need a hug…?"

Okay, so maybe I wasn't hiding it very well. I nodded, and Zil, smiling, sat beside me on the bench. And we hugged. Like good friends would.

I always liked hugs. Hugs were good. Hugs were special. Hugs were a way of saying, "Everything's okay now. We're gonna be fine." To me, they were the ultimate act of comfort. If I was sad, crying—I would want a hug. Hugs were just…like that to me. Like a big giant teddy bear to little children when bawling.

In no time, the tears I had wanted to shed—but for some reason, did not—faded away, as a new, warm feeling started to spread throughout my soul. And somehow, that enmity that I thought I would forever feel ebbed away. Maybe…maybe we _could _be good friends. Even if one was a Christian, one was an Atheist…maybe we could still stick together.

And maybe, just maybe…one day…Zil would accept Christ.

Maybe.

Oh, but I would forever pray until that day.

-

We had had fun that night. We had shared secrets, jokes, embarrassing moments…heh, we had laughed a lot. Like good friends should. And finally…it came time for bed.

But as Zil lay sleeping on the bed across from mine, I could not get to sleep. I tossed and turned for a few moments, but sleep would not come. I was kinda frustrated. It had been a tiring day. Shouldn't I get a few winks of sleep…? Didn't I deserve it…?

But the longer I lied there, the more bored I got. I was starting to get restless. In fact, my mind was actually wanting to get up and go outside for a walk. And why…?

But I couldn't deny that it sounded like a good idea. So then, I started thinking of the other necessary questions. Would I be able to make my way back? Sure, as long as I didn't wander too far. Would I get in trouble? I don't see why. I just needed a breath of fresh air, right? How could I get in trouble for that? It's not like King Sharyar, Sonic or Shahra were my parents…

And so, with that satisfying thought across my mind, I slipped out of bed, quietly making my way to our bedroom doorway. My heart beat in my chest rapidly, although I had no idea why. And I was scared. _Man, I'm such a coward…_ I chided myself. But I pushed myself further, out the hallway, down the stairs, across the throne room and to the door, no matter how hard my heart bounced around in my ribcage.

It wasn't so bad to go outside, right? I'd be back before anyone knew I was gone…

…hopefully…

And as soon as I stepped outside, closing the door behind me, I couldn't help but feel I had made a right decision. I took in a big breath of the Arabian night air. Oh, how wonderful it was. And at that moment, I still had to remind myself I wasn't dreaming. I was actually here—on an adventure with Shahra, Sonic and Zil. This was all real. So wonderfully real! It was such a beautiful feeling.

With a wide smile on my face, I ventured further, relishing in the feeling of the sand against my bare feet. Oh, so cool…

But abruptly and all too suddenly, something caught my eye. Was it just coincidence, or…was that Sonic…?

And oh my gosh, I realized, it was.

He sat there, on a fallen pillar, hands beside him, supporting him as he leaned back. There wasn't much wind, so his quills didn't dance like they did when the wind did play with them, but it still looked like such a calm, dream-like picture. The moonlight on his fur gave him a mysterious look…but at the same time, he looked gentle, open…

Oh, there was so much, much more to learn about him.

I walked toward Sonic, urged by the notion to just sit and talk to the usually on-the-run hedgehog. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? And what did I do with chances like that…?

But little did I know that that night would be something I cherished forever—something etched in my memory to be never forgotten.

Sonic must've heard me a few footsteps away, for he turned his gaze from the moon back towards me as I reached him. A soft grin started to spread across his features.

"Hey," he greeted quietly. "What's keeping you up?"

I shrugged as I stepped over the pillar, before sitting down next to him. "I don't know really…just couldn't get to sleep. You?"

The grin stayed as his shifted his head to look back at the moon. It was eerie how the moonlight made his eyes shine hauntingly. "I'm just…worried."

Now _that_ sounded weird. Sonic the hedgehog? Worried…? It didn't fit. I furrowed my eyebrows. That…just didn't sound right. "Why would _you _be worried?" I hadn't actually meant to emphasis the 'you'—but apparently my subconscious had a stubborn will, and it won.

Sonic shrugged, thought for a moment, then replied, "It'll be hard tomorrow. We'll be going through dino turf, battling robots, trying to stop an oncoming assembly…" He shook his head, spines dangling with the movement. "…I just hope you guys don't get hurt."

"Sonic…" I was touched—I'll admit that. But I was still confused. "You don't have to be worried. God's in control, remember?"

Sonic turned to face me, the grin on his face widening and his eyes sparkling a shade brighter. "Crys…I bet I know that better than anyone else here…"

Maybe it was the way he said it—or the way he looked as he said it. I don't know, but something touched me then. Something touched my heart, gently—softly, and I felt something inside me crack just a tiny bit. But I wanted to know more.

"…What do you mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Sonic's grin softened, his eyes filling with sorrow as he looked back up toward the moon. He didn't respond right away, but I could see his eyes start to glisten with what—tears? The thought was astonishing, but even I had to remind myself—Sonic was just like me. Perhaps older, and perhaps more experienced, but he was still a person who thought and questioned and had feelings.

"…I can't…describe…what I have seen…"---was it just me, or did his voice tremor as he said that?—"…or what I have felt…but…Crys…"—here he turned to me, and I could see the tears in his eyes were _dangerously _close to falling—"…when you feel the hand of God…" he looked like he was about to say something else. His mouth was open, hand up as if to try and grab the words he wanted to say…but he couldn't, and he let his hand fall back to his side, eyes distant and yet glistening with yet another emotion that I could not name. Oh, I wanted to hug him just then, he looked so sad. But yet, he looked so…happy. Or…amazed. Or was he…

…shaken? 

"Sonic…what's wrong…?" I asked hesitantly, reaching out with my hand to gently touch his arm.

Sonic shook his head, smiling, and yet still having that sorrowful look in his eyes. "…oh Crys…if only you knew…there's so much—"

"…I can know," my voice sounded hoarse to me, but even though I cleared my throat, Sonic had still heard me. He turned to face me, ears up.

"What do you mean?" Did the tables of fate just turn—or was he now asking me what I had asked him only moments earlier?

"I…I can know how it feels…if you tell me…" I murmured.

Sonic turned away, a grim smile on his face, and eyes still sorrowful. "To tell you about it would be to tell you my whole life—"

"I wouldn't mind," I interrupted. Strangely enough, I wasn't guilty about it, either. I really did wanna know. "Really, I wouldn't. I wanna hear about your life."

Sonic looked surprised. He turned to me, shock written all over his face. It was weird—almost foreign to see him like this, openly displaying so many emotions. But I guess he didn't have to put up a charade when I was around…

I felt special, in a way.

"Crys, I've only known you for one day. I haven't even told my whole life—everything about me--to Tails. It's just something I know, and I know alone. What makes you think I'm gonna tell you?" It wasn't a rude question. It was just the truth. I _had_ only known him for 24-hours. What gave me the right to demand his entire life out of him?

"…I'll tell you my whole life. Although it will definitely be not as exciting…it'll be a fair exchange, right…?" I responded, almost hesitantly.

Sonic thought about this a moment. I was almost praying he'd say yes—almost, because now I knew what I had gotten myself into. If he agreed, not only would I learn his whole life—I would have to tell him my whole life. That wasn't fun. There were _a lot_ of things I was ashamed of in my life. _A lot_. And to tell Sonic…my childhood hero…?

Maybe I should start thinking before I get myself into these messes…

"All right," Sonic finally said, grinning almost sadly. "It's a deal."

I did a double-take—one, surprised that he actually agreed, and two, scared out of my wits that I'd have to tell him my whole life. Yeah. I should definitely think before I start saying things.

"But you first," Sonic said. "Mine might take a while…"

I nodded, even though my heart was a torrential hurricane inside my chest. Oh gosh…what did I get myself into…?

I licked my lips nervously. "Well…I guess I can start with saying I was never a normal girl to begin with…I had an unhealthy obsession with the color yellow when I was little…"

And so it was, that while we sat there, heads bowed together, mumbling our stories—our lives to one another, a bond was made. A strong bond, so to speak. From that moment on, Sonic knew everything about me, and I knew everything about Sonic.

My questions about the hedgehog were nearly fulfilled. Of course, he was still something amazing—something that would never cease to surprise me. But that was him—that was the answer to the puzzle that I had been trying to solve this entire time. Sonic was just spontaneous. Although I could try and figure out what he would do next, it wouldn't do me good. He was unpredictable, guided only by the feelings by which his heart gave him.

And I already knew his heart was guided by the Holy Spirit. So no worries there.

It was at the deepest, heaviest part of night when we were finished. I felt burdened, and yet relieved at the same time. Now, I no longer had to carry my past by myself—but now, I also had to carry Sonic's past. However, that didn't bother me, somehow. Instead, I felt honored. Very honored. And I felt lifted from a heavy weight I had to bear.

Overall, I thought we had made a right decision.

But we sat there in silence, thinking deeply about what we had told each other. It was a long while before finally, I turned to Sonic, a question persisting to be asked in my mind.

"Sonic…" I began slowly, and the hedgehog turned to me. "Now that I know how your life really turned out…do you think it'd be okay if…if I made it a story…? You know, like a continuity on—"

"No."

The answer was surprising, shocking and a little painful. But I swallowed the emotions that stung me, and asked, "Why not?"

Sonic gave me a gentle smile, eyes shining as he replied, "I don't want people's imaginations to be limited by what really happened and what didn't."

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused, but still yearning to understand. "What do you mean…?"

Sonic shifted his gaze, still smiling gently, and looked back at the moon. "It's only because of what people have written that my life has turned out the way it has. Heck, if that NetRaptor-girl that you kept talking about never wrote that 'Emerald Madness'—was that it?—story, then I would not be a Christian. But since she wrote it, depicted it out, it became real."

Silence.

I pondered over this greatly. It was true, I couldn't help but notice. Sonic had told me the events of his life—including how he became a Christian—and I couldn't help but discover that it followed _exactly_ like that story. And come to think of it…many other events of his life followed the plots other authors have written! Or at least, partly have…

"So you're saying…" I began, still trying to figure this great phenomenon out. "That whatever people write comes true…?"

Sonic shook his head, quills dangling with the movement. "No, not really. The only stories that come true—or at least partly come true—are the ones that are, as you put it, 'so beautifully written and intricately woven together.' Only those authors, who can 'make their reader feel as if they were the main character', have the ability to write my life—or any of my friends'."

"But why—and how? Some stories weren't even written until recently, and yet you've said they've already happened! I'm so confused…" I murmured. None of this made sense at all.

Sonic chuckled, the little flame on his chest—I had almost forgotten about it—flickering with amusement as he said, "It isn't supposed to. _Life_ is confusing. But God knows what you guys are gonna right, and he makes it come true ahead of time."

Okay, so that answered one question. What about the second? "But how are us authors able to control what happens in your life? Isn't that God's job?"

Sonic smiled, nodding, but the way he looked—the way his eyes glinted mischievously—hinted that he knew more than he was admitting. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"So-nic…"

"You said that you and your friend once had a talk about what the Bible meant when it said that God created humans in his image, right?"

I was slightly shocked by the sudden bluntness of the question, but nodded. "Right…"

Sonic chuckled again, shoulders shaking. What did he find so funny…? "Didn't you ever think—during our whole convo—that _maybe_ part of that meant that you were able to plan out a living creature's life just like He does?"

I truly had not thought of that before. It was evident in the way my mouth hung open limply. Sonic chuckled again, and continued.

"Of course, I know only God can give life. So of course He created me—not any human. But any human might have control over what happens in my life," Sonic added.

I was still amazed, but managed to moisten my mouth enough to say, "But…aren't you scared of what people might do to you? What they might make happen?"

Sonic shook his head immediately, not missing a beat. "Like it says in the Bible, God won't put me through anything I can't bear. Even if you guys might have some say in what happens, God is still the Big Guy and he can still say whether or not what you guys want goes."

As his words crossed my mind, I slowly turned my head to face in front of me, jaw coming up to snap shut. Again, I found myself baffled by how much faith Sonic put in something he couldn't even see. It was…overwhelming. And again, I found something touch my heart—ever so gently, softly, and I could feel something within me crack just a teeny bit more…

"Anyway, it's getting late. Stay up any longer, and we're gonna be bushed tomorrow. What help that'll be against Erazor!" Sonic smiled and chuckled, standing up. He turned to me, eyes twinkling. "Ya okay, Crys?"

I numbly nodded. "Yeah…fine…"

"Hey…do I have to tell you what I told Shahra?" Sonic asked with a lop-sided smile, head tilted to the side childishly.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "What do you mean…?"

"You don't have to look so glum," Sonic informed, pointing his index finger my way. "Put a smile on, at least."

But instead of following his instructions, I looked down, ashamed. I know I hadn't smiled a lot during our adventure—it was hard, too, after all. What with all the fighting, and the heaviness of the situation…

It wasn't easy to smile if all the world was on your shoulders.

And for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to smile even then. Even when we weren't fighting.

Sonic's ears suddenly fell to the sides, and for a brief moment, he looked completely crestfallen. As I tilted my head up to look at him, he asked quietly, "Please, Crys…smile for me…just once…"

I stared at him for a long, long moment. Part of me didn't want to smile—wanted to stay in the dark thoughts, in the solemn moments, constantly reflecting—constantly remembering that if I fail, my world will die. But the other part of me wanted to smile, wanted to see the light—that saving the world didn't mean having to be serious and gloomy. It could be fun and exhilarating—and that if I missed that, I would be missing what would probably be the most important part of my life.

And so, fighting against the majority of myself…

…I smiled.

Slowly, Sonic's ears lifted up, and he smiled back, proud. "There we go. _Now_ all is well."

This made me smile even wider.

And so, as we made our way back to the castle, neither of us spoke a word. But it wasn't because there was an invisible barrier between us. Oh, no. That barrier has long been broken—the enmity between our team no longer existing. It was because we were a family, again—and both Sonic and I knew this, so no words were actually _needed_.

But remember how I had thought that every step of this adventure was disciplinary?

Well, in a way, it was, for every step that we took, we were always learning, always making mistakes--but always coming together in the end. And that magnificent cycle, dear reader, is what being a family all comes down to.

Making amends.


	9. Chapter 8: Lost in Dino Jungle Part 1

The next morning, we set off. After constant persisting from both Zil and I, we finally got Shahra to let us be in our human forms during this part of the journey. We had wanted to feel the jungle forest for ourselves—walk through it in our given forms. Could you blame us? But as it turned out, dear reader, we had made a right decision. No words could describe how beautiful the rainforest was. I was literally breath-taken.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" I couldn't help but exclaim, an awed smile taking over my features. Amazing that I had been smiling a lot more ever since the previous night…

But Zil nodded in agreement, a more excited smile on her face. "_So_ cool!"

"And we're gonna see some dinosaurs, right…?" I asked, turning towards Sonic and Shahra.

Both nodded.

"It's a high possibility," Shahra answered, a hand stretching out in front of her. "This forest is filled from top to bottom with all sorts of them. We're bound to see at least a dozen or so on our—"

"Sh!"

All of us turned to Sonic, surprised by the sudden outburst. But the hedgehog's attention was not focused on us. Instead, he was looking back the way we came, ears twitching ever so stiffly.

"What is it, Soni—"

"_Sh!_"

Zil angled her head back, taking on the pitiful look of one ashamed—but it was all a playful act. She was just as curious as Shahra and I about what the hedgehog was suddenly hearing, and wasn't at all daunted by the fact that he'd shushed her.

After a moment of silence, Sonic whispered, "Do you hear it…?"

"Hear what?" Shahra asked, keeping her voice quiet as well.

"That rumbling," was the answer. "It's getting louder and louder…"

In response, we all stayed quiet, ears straining to hear that which we couldn't. And after what seemed like an eternity, a quiet rumbling reached my ears. As it got steadily louder, like Sonic had said, I could feel the ground beneath me tremble as if an earthquake was nearing. But that wasn't possible…

Suddenly, Zil gasped, grasping my arm hard. I emitted a quiet 'ow', turning to her with my eyebrows furrowed as if asking, 'What was that for?' But one glance at my friend's face, and you would've instantly paled, too. She had a strange expression on—one of realization, and horror.

Concern overpowering the fact that I was losing circulation in my arm, I whispered to Zil, "What is it?"

"Don't you remember?" she whispered back, eyes still not leaving the forested green that we had come through. "The triceratops…"

Instantly, I felt my blood run cold. Oh. Snap. I _had_ forgotten about that little juicy, heart-warming detail…

"Guys…" I called, voice shaking with fear. To my relief, Sonic and Shahra turned to me without me having to call them twice. The rumbling got louder and louder…

Fear completely taking over my heart, I cried, "_Run!_"

"Say what?"

But no sooner did the words leave Sonic's mouth than the trees behind him snapped over, a whole stampede of triceratops _right there_.

However, I had only gotten a glimpse of them before suddenly, I felt my right arm snap to the side painfully, and something pull me away from danger at a blinding speed. I screamed from one in fear, two from the pain that my arm was feeling, and three from the sheer suddenness of it all.

To the right—to the left—to the right again. We were moving so fast! My mind wasn't able to comprehend everything we were zooming by. The only thing I could hear was my voice, still screaming. The only thing I could feel was the pain in my arm and the hand around my wrist. The only thing I knew was fear.

But about two minutes later, I could hear Sonic yell from in front of me, "Ohsnapohsnapohsnapohsnapoh—"

And suddenly, surprisingly, abruptly, the world started to spin out of control as we plummeted down to what, I did not know. My mind was still jumbled, trying to speed up with my body.

And I had not stopped screaming…

But reality seemed to give me a literal cold smack in the face as I collided with frigid, rushing water. Then, things started snapping into place. We were in Dino Jungle, running away from triceratops. Sonic had saved me. But what about Zil and Shahra…?

And where was I?

Oh, that was easy. I had fallen in the river that Sonic was supposed to ride a log across after he fell from the bridge…

…wait, what?

Okay, so maybe my mind _hadn't _caught up with my body. But I was still panicked, my arms and legs kicking and clawing desperately to get to air—any refuge.

Remind me why I wanted to be in my human form again…?

Suddenly, though, two strong arms grabbed me from under my arm pits, heaving me up and out of the water to safety. I gasped and choked for air. Ah, such sweet, sweet, air!

From right above my shivering body (you try being thrusted into a hyperborean river and then pulled out—see how warm _you_ are), I could hear Shahra call, "I've got her! I've got her!"

And from somewhere off in the distance, I could hear Sonic's fading voice, "Great! Now find Zil!"

I hesitantly opened my eyes, still shivering. My mind would not comprehend a single thing that was happening, but somehow, I manage to understand that Shahra was pulling me over the river, and that I was drenched, cold, miserable…

Wow. A lot had changed in only a matter of minutes. Just a second ago I was excited about seeing the rainforest. Now…

…to but it simply and nicely, I wasn't.

But Shahra set me down on a grassy promontory, before flying off to search for Zil. I sat there on my knees, shivering, eyes squinted, and my mind still trying to sort things out. Man, was I out of it…

After a while, I started to 'wake up.' I stood up, acknowledging the fact that we had just skimmed through the first part of the Dino Jungle level in SatSR, and that I had been dropped in the river, now was soaking wet, cold, and that Sonic was beside me, dry (lucky hedgehog), but looking out for Shahra and Zil, and that they had not yet returned.

Wait, they weren't back yet?

I snapped around, my wet hair-braid flying with the movement, and my eyes flittering around, searching for my friends. This wasn't good…oh, this was not good…

"Can you see them?" I asked.

Sonic shook his head, to any normal person, looking calm, but I could see he was tense and worried. That didn't give me a good feeling. If Sonic was worried, then I definitely had a reason to be worried.

Minutes ticked by, and there was still no sign of them. Although I started to dry off, my fear didn't. I began to pace.

"Ohhh…" I mumbled, worried and heart strained.

And to make matters worse, what I saw next made my heart stop.

The promontory we were standing on was facing a waterfall that the raging river I had once been in led to. Where the _waterfall_ led to, I had no clue—but I didn't wanna find out, either, for it looked quite ugly and lethal.

Thus it was that when I finally noticed a small figure I instantly recognized as Zil cling to a giant rock that was right above the waterfall, I screamed. Sonic turned to me quickly, surprised by my outburst.

"Whoa, what's gettin' you?" he asked, but I was already blurting, "It's Zil! Up there! She's gonna fall down the waterfall!"

At the mention of Zil's name, he zipped back around, green eyes darting to find the girl. In no time, his eyes located her.

"'Naw, crud," he murmured. But his mind must've been on hyper-drive, for instantly, he was rubbing his ring. It took no longer than a second for Shahra to appear, and even as she bowed, muttering her usual greeting, her eyes were wide with fear and apprehension. Sonic began speaking. "Zil's up there—hurry! She's on that rock!"

Following where his finger was pointing, it didn't take long for Shahra to locate her. In a split second, she was off, bound to save the girl.

My eyes didn't leave my friend, as my mind—my heart—didn't stop praying that Shahra would get there in time. _Please, Lord…_ I begged. _Save her…_

And to make matters worse…just as Shahra was nearing her…

Zil lost her grasp on the rock.

I screamed my friend's name loudly, a cold fear crushing my soul. No, no, no, _no, __**no**_!

And so I was forced to watch as Shahra dipped down, as panicked as I was, and reached to grab Zil…

She missed her by such a short distance, from where I was standing, it was as if it was a purposeful mis-grasp. But as I learned later, Shahra truly had missed Zil's hand. However, she had only one shot—one chance--to grab and save Zil. And she had _missed_ it…

"_**NO!**_" I cried.

But before those words even left my mouth, I felt a strong breeze almost pull me into the water—and silence out my words. A loud _boom_ and an invisible force immediately afterwards knocked me backwards (kinda confusing, having been pulled forward then thrust back abruptly, but it happened) and onto my rear. But before I could register the pain, my head snapped to my left. Sonic wasn't there.

In fact, come to think of it, I hadn't even realized I had hurt myself until long, long later (it wasn't anything serious, just that my butt was uber sore after having been pushed down so hard; who knew a sonic boom could do that?). Nope. Instead, I jumped back up, and looked up just in time to see one of the most amazing spectacles of my life.

A blue _streak_ ran vertical to the water—_on top of it_, may I add—and up the waterfall all the way to the falling Zil, _caught her_, and then _turned around _and ran _down the waterfall _and all the way back, leaping back up onto the promontory.

It all seemed like it came out of a movie—like it wasn't real. But it had been. Sonic had just defied gravity. Not only that, but he ran _on top of water_. AND not only that, but he ran on top of water _opposite its direction_.

It broke so many physics laws I learned in my accelerated science class, I dare not even think of it.

But it had happened, and I had witnessed it, and I would never forget it.

Zil coughed and gagged for air as she sat there, shaking all over from the effort it took just to get oxygen in her system. I immediately rushed to her side, for the moment forgetting about Sonic, and tried to help her right herself and breathe.

But it was then I noticed the tears mixing with the water that soaked her…

Zil was…crying…?

"Shh…" I whispered, rubbing my friend's back as Shahra appeared nearby. "It's okay…"

But Zil turned to me, locked her wide, frantic silver eyes with mine, and immediately I knew it was not. Zil had almost _died_. In light of that, she was _terrified_. I guess I would be, too, so I don't blame her. But the way she looked then—completely and utterly shaken…

"…want a hug?" I asked, biting back a smile.

Zil nodded, smiling, her breaths evening out but still jagged. And we hugged. I didn't care that I was getting my clothes wet again. Zil was all that mattered right then. She needed comfort like I had before—and since she had been there for me, it was only right that I ought to be there for her.

As we released our hug, I placed my hands on her shoulders, looking her over carefully as I asked, "You okay, now?"

Zil nodded (her voice must've not been working on her quite then), and stood up, wobbled, then steadied herself. She was still shaking a little bit. So me and Shahra helped her, until she was able to walk on her own.

I turned my head to face Sonic, and although his green eyes showed concern, he was smiling contentedly. Zil was all right. He had done his job. Then, turning around, he once again took his place as leader as we continued our journey through Dinosaur Jungle.

It was a long while before any of us spoke. And amazingly, it was Zil who spoke first.

"Well…" her voice was shaky at first, and she cleared it with a quick cough or two. "…that was some adventure."

That brought a grin to all of our faces, and Sonic turned his head around to show that he, too, was grinning. "So ya feel better?" he asked.

"Yep," was the reply with a nod. "Thanks for savin' me."

Sonic gave her a thumbs-up. "No problem."

Zil's smile widened, but before she could respond, we heard a big _**thump**_, that shook the earth and rattled the trees. We froze, and my heart stopped for a split second, thinking it was the triceratops again. But it wasn't, for as soon as it came, it was gone. Silence resumed.

And then…

"Holy fudge cakes! And here I was thinking it was happening all over again!" Zil exclaimed, and hand covering, what I could guess, her rapidly-beating heart.

"I wonder what it was…" Shahra murmured, metallic blue eyes looking around.

After a moment of searching, Sonic finally shrugged and continued walking. "Whatever it was, it's probably gone, now."

I nodded, and all of us followed him as we trekked further on. But we were wrong.

Whatever had made the sound was still there. We discovered that once another huge _**thump**_occurred.

"Jeez! I thought you said it was gone, Sonic!" Zil said after the moment of silence.

"I never said I was always right, did I?" Sonic responded.

"Actually…you did," I chimed in, remembering earlier on in our adventure.

Sonic lifted his head up, thinking back a moment. Then it dawned on him. "Ah…I did, didn't I?" he grinned, looking back at us, before continuing walking forward.

And it seemed the mysterious thumps had ceased as we walked on for a while, but yet again, we were incorrect. The thump occurred once more. By this time, we were by a curving stone wall to our right, that rounded around something obscured behind it. We stood there, confused.

"Something seems wrong…" Shahra spoke up. I nodded in agreement.

"I don't like this," Zil said bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest. "We just got out of a stinking life threatening position…I don't plan on getting in one—"

Now…this is where I simply must stop and ramble on for a few seconds about how God has a sense of humor. I know He does; it's completely evident because of what He timed next…

You remember how I mentioned we were beside a large rock wall that rounded around something we couldn't see? Well…right as 'one' had left Zil's mouth, the wall _directly _in front of Zil and I burst open with an ear-splitting _**boom**_, separating us from Sonic and Shahra.

But it wasn't really the fact that there was now a hole in the wall that scared us. It was what was sticking _out_ of the hole.

A huge T-Rex's snout, large, and snapping ferociously.

It was hungry.

And we were its snacks.

Needless to say, we didn't like the situation.

So we screamed.

Then, once the T-Rex pulled it's snout back in behind the wall, Zil grabbed my arm, pulling me forward, all the while screaming, "C'mon! Move! Move! Move!"

So I ran. For my life.

My heart was pounding so hard, I could feel it in my ears—I could feel it in my head. And I had not stopped screaming.

But then, the T-Rex burst through the wall once more—_right behind us_—snapping and biting and growling, perhaps even hungrier and madder than before. That made us pick up our pace until we were running so fast, my legs felt like they were on fire.

I could barely hear Zil's panicked yells as she screamed, "C'mon! Keep moving! We gotta keep moving!" But by this time, I couldn't yell anymore. My mind was in a frenzy, desperate to stay alive.

We continued running at our fastest, Zil still pulling me along with her hand on my forearm. The T-Rex made one final attempt at us, this time in front of us—so close, even, we were forced to skid to a stop so quickly that we fell on our backs from our panicked force. And right above us, we watched as the snout snapped around—teeth clanging, head shaking—trying to get food. It was so close, we could smell its stenchy breath. So close, a few drops of its saliva fell upon our clothes. So close, that its teeth almost nicked us. And then abruptly and suddenly, it pulled itself back in.

We heard one last, final, earth-shaking roar, and then, for whatever reason unknown, it thumped off, leaving us in our trembling fear.

I don't know how long we lied there, not realizing Sonic and Shahra were no where to be found, not realizing we were alive after that terrifying experience, not realizing how hard we were breathing. But it was a long, long time. I can tell you that much, because when we finally moved, the sky was starting to pinken, the sun starting to leave it.

And then…

At precisely the same moment, we burst out laughing—then coughing from the lack of breath—and then laughing even some more. We laughed so hard, tears came to our eyes. We laughed so hard, our sides hurt. But we didn't care. We were _alive_.

That moment, as we laid there, laughing our heads off, I felt as if Zil were my sister. I felt so close to her…as if there was a kinship between us. A great bond—one that couldn't be broken.

I loved it, and it made me laugh some more.

And then, as we sighed with overwhelming joy and relief, wiping our eyes and chuckling out the leftover laughs, reality crashed down on us.

Zil's smile immediately left her face as she sat on her knees, and I, as well, beside her. Then, she asked quietly, "Where's Sonic and Shahra?"

The smile drained from my face, my heart sinking in dismay. I looked around, eyes darting everywhere. Zil was right. Where…where were they…?

Slowly, I stood up, feeling cold and small beside the wounded wall, the still trees, and the large rocks. "Sonic?" I called out, a bit hesitantly. Then, with growing worry and apprehension, "Shahra?"

No answer. Only my voice echoing throughout the area.

Zil stood up beside me, her eyes as wide as mine. "Crys…" she began to say.

I looked around even more frantically, thinking perhaps it was a joke. But no. Sonic wouldn't do that—not after the encounter with that T-Rex.

"Sonic!" I called louder, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Shahra!"

But still, only my voice echoed, and no response from our friends was made.

My hands fell to my sides, a cold feeling winding up in my stomach. "They're gone…" I whispered.

"Yeah," Zil murmured, her voice laced with anxiety. "…and _we're_ lost."

Sucking in a shaky breath, I realized she was right. We were alone, in a dinosaur jungle, with a T-Rex on the loose…

…and we were undoubtedly very lost.

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter 9: Lost in Dino Jungle Part 2

_They say when you read a book, it's like entering another world. 6 months ago, I found myself in that situation quite literally._

-

"You've gotta be _kidding_ me."

"Nope."

"We gotta walk across that?"

"Yep."

"No handrails?"

"...Crys, _think about this_. It's a _dino_. I think it'd be _crazy_ if it suddenly sprouted handrails on its back, saying 'Oh, lookie here--now people can walk across me just fine! Yipee-ki-yay!'"

I stuck my tongue out at my friend by my side, but was smiling all the same. Still...that did not stop the butterflies in my stomach. Standing in front of us was this seriously, _huge_ brachiosaurus. I'm not kidding. It was _gigantic_. Its feet were firmly planted in the ocean floor (I have no clue how deep that lake is--but for those of you who don't know where we are by now, we are now out of the jungle, and in this large gulf of some sort. A lot of fat, fat pillars and islands were here and there, with grass growing plentifully on each--speaking of which, the brachiosaurus had its back to us as its head was dipped down onto such an island, munching away). It didn't mind our presence. Thank God it was an herbivore.

Unfortunately, the only way to be going somewhere without getting ourselves back lost in the jungle again was to cross this dino's back--our transport to the next island.

I didn't want to do this. Balance was not my forte.

"Come on!" Zil waved a hand at me as she strode forward towards its tail that lay on the promontory we stood on. "Let's get going while it doesn't notice!"

I wanted to tell her that I seriously doubted that we'd seem like harmless little flies to this gigantic beast, but my voice was lost again as I nodded numbly in return, following her as she stepped tentatively on its tail. Seeing no reaction from the dino, Zil then put her other foot on it. Then she walked onward, arms spread out, and deeming the dangerous trek safe.

Um...sure...

Finally, I followed her. And things seemed to go well. Its back was especially easy--large, and rotund in shape. It was the neck that was the difficult part. As soon as Zil put one foot on the base of the brachiosaurus' neck, it's head shot up out of the water--and I could feel its bones shift beneath my sneakers in sync with the sudden reaction. I almost lost balance.

"Zil!" I cried--at first because of my own panic and call for help, but then I saw her start to slowly slip off the dinosaur. Oh....oh please not again...

Luckily, her arms shot out, and she bent her body over, hands clawing for scales to grab onto. I suppose it was similar to climbing up a slide, however--her hands seemed to stick enough to the dino's back and she managed to scramble her way back up to safety. I hurried over to her, and knelt down beside her.

"You okay?" was the first thing out of my mouth.

And the only reply I received was a classic groan. "I think I just about have the worst luck for near-death situations."

I tossed my head back and laughed. "I won't disagree there." Then, holding my hand out for her to grab, we stood back up and looked up at the dinosaur's head. So it seemed the sudden movement wasn't to shake us off it's back--but instead, the beast was actually helping us...?

Puzzling, yes. But that's the way it seemed. It's muzzle lied peacefully on a high, grassy cliff above, which lead to yet another forest. And it did nothing but sit there, blinking and waiting patiently. Patiently for us?

"Awww..." Zil cooed. "It's so nice~"

I turned and looked at her strangely. Now I don't know about you, but at that moment, I was deeply, deeply confused. I once read in a school magazine an article about animal intelligence. The only time they have ever shown such kindness to people--or such annoyance, in some cases--was if for personal benefit.

So what benefit would this dinosaur have by allowing us to travel to the next forest? How did it even know that's where we were headed, anyway?

"Come on, Crys! What're ya waitin' for?" Zil chided playfully--already beginning to climb up the dinosaur's neck using the dull blades like a ladder.

I blinked, furrowed my eyebrows, then followed. I wouldn't allow this situation to go to waste, understand me, here. But I'm also thoroughly curious. This was a strange world, A Thousand and One Nights. When--and if--I returned to Earth, I will definitely pick it up for a read. Ancient fiction or not.

Once at the top and on safe land, Zil and I turned around to the dinosaur, who's head still sat there in the grass contentedly. Zil then squatted down in front of its nose, and patted it, smiling widely.

"Thanks, buddy," she murmured. I couldn't help but smile, and place my hands on my hips as I watched them.

And yet somehow, the beast seemed to understand her. It made a loud but low, grumbling but whining sound, and then slowly pulled its head away to once again resume its lunch.

Standing back up, Zil tensed with anxiety, shaking her clenched fists enthusiastically. "He's so cute~!"

I couldn't help but laugh once more. "He is, isn't he?"

"We should name him."

I gave her a skeptical look. "Zil, we probably won't see him again."

"So?" she whined. "Please, Crys? Can't we name him? Please? He deserves that much, don't you think?"

I opened my mouth to object, but I couldn't find it in my heart to do so. I smiled widely instead. "All right. What shall we name him?"

"Yes!" Zil cheered, then regained all seriousness, bending over the cliff to observe our new 'friend.' "Something cute--like him. Like...Squash?"

"Squash?" I scrunched my face up, but so amused--I laughed once more. "Why in the world 'Squash'?"

"Because he's orange...and squash is orange, right?"

"It'd be like naming him pumpkin."

"That's stupid."

"So's 'Squash.'"

"Is not!"

I shook my head, smiling. "Just pick something."

"...I still like 'Squash'..."

I couldn't believe it. "Fine. We'll name him 'Squash.'" It was so absurd--but so Zil, it fit somehow. After having unceremoniously dubbed the dinosaur, I joined her in bending over the cliff to observe our buddy. And I thought...maybe Zil was right. In some...weird...way, Squash was cute.

I stood up, content, and pat her back abruptly. "Well...let's keep searching and leave Squash to his meal."

Zil stood, saluting, but glanced back at the dinosaur out of the corner of her eye. "Aye-aye!"

I smiled, waiting for her to say her mental good-byes to the dinosaur, and once she was finished, we trudged on. Yet another memory that I could put in my mental scrapbook of this strange, terrifying, yet somehow wonderful adventure.

But back to finding Sonic and Shahra...

-

_Things didn't start out small. The adventure exploded unto us--as did everything else. All the conflicts, all the troubles...we had no say. They were just suddenly there._

-

"Sonic!"

"Shahra!"

"Sonic!"

"Shaaaaaaaaaahraaaaaaaaaa!"

Our calls didn't end, even though me and Zil were pretty sure it was about midnight, by now. We were dead tired—having not stopped walking ever since meeting Squash. Although, we were probably making the situation we were in worse by wondering around aimlessly…but that didn't really matter to us. I could swear we must've been like zombies then. Exhausted, voices hoarse, and _hungry_—considering our last meal was breakfast, and lunch skipped because we were being pulled along by a river…and dinner not even thought of, since both me and Zil didn't know a thing about what you can and can't eat in a jungle…

There was a light thud beside me, and I stopped walking, turning to see what had happened. Zil had fallen to her knees. Softly, I knelt beside her, asking, "Zil, what's wrong?"

The response I got was a quite whine. "I'm tired…can't we just sleep here for the night?"

I thought about this for a moment. It was possible…we could create a makeshift shelter and just sleep for a little bit—

Okay…never mind. Just as those thoughts were running through my head, Zil had laid down fully on the grassy floor, then curled up into a ball and fell asleep soundly.

I smiled slightly. Well, we weren't in a terrible position. Sure, we were lost. Sure, we were hungry. Sure, we were exhausted. But we weren't dying. And Zil had the right idea. We should definitely get some rest—that would take care of the exhaustion. As for hunger…eh, we should be able to survive for a little longer. It wasn't like we were _starving_. As for being lost, perhaps when we wake up, we'll find them. Who knows? Maybe they'll find us while we're sleeping, and then—

And then, my mind and body shut down as I lied down, asleep as soon as my head hit the rainforest floor—quite literally.

-

_I was such an overdramatic child then. I cried at nearly the littlest thing, screamed at the smallest ant, and quaked in front of the weakest foe. Yet somehow, I was needed. We all were._

-

When I first awoke the next morning, the strongest sensation overcame my heart. I wanted Sonic and Shahra back. It wasn't right anymore without them--me and Zil needed them back.

This resolve of mine was so strong and immediate at first, but a minute later and it instantly quailed. So there I sat on my knees, in the middle of dinosaur jungle--my one and only companion slumbering at my right--and the quickest-answered prayer I ever had. I was scared, I was lonely...but part of it was the adventure didn't seem right without them. They were the key part in it, after all. We needed them.

But a faint voice in the back of my head whispered, "Do they need you...?"

"Crys!"

My head snapped up at the call, and all at once, Sonic and Shahra--along with a strong burst of wind--stood in front of me, faces filled with worry and yet with relief. I couldn't believe it. Such an instantaneous answer to my prayer! Praise God!

My heart leaped as I leaned forward and hugged Sonic tightly. Somehow, my arms found their way around him without getting prodded with his spikes--but I didn't really register that. I was just so glad they had found us.

"Whoa!" Sonic laughed, putting a gloved hand on my back. "Missed me, huh?"

"Where were you guys? What happened?" My mind was buzzing--I couldn't really make sense of the situation. But they were _back_. Being half-a-day away from them will have this affect on you, readers--I tell the truth.

"When we noticed the t-rex begin to focus on you, we decided to distract it so you could escape," Shahra explained. Her face took on a faint shade of pink as she added, "Our plan didn't succeed like it was supposed to...but we were able to direct it away. It shouldn't bother us anymore during our travel to Evil Foundry."

Now having released Sonic from my grip, I felt my shoulders sag with relief. "Thank you...you saved me and Zil." With a smile, I added, "How did you guys find us, anyway?"

"You aren't far from where we originally were with the t-rex."

I blinked at this new proposition the genie gave me. "...really? Me and Zil have been walking non-stop since then. I figured we'd be pretty far. We actually broke free of the forest for a bit..."

Sonic tapped his foot, scratching his quills. "Maybe you walked in a circle or something."

Once again, my shoulders sagged--but this time, it was with dismay. "That's no good..."

"Cheer-up. Ain't that bad. A little walking won't do you harm," Sonic smiled. His foot still tapped, though, and I will admit--it is a tad annoying.

I stood up then, stretching. "Well...at least we can be fairies now. Maybe we'll get out of the jungle quicker."

Sonic nodded, then smirked. "My thoughts exactly."

I smiled, and then after awaking a very irritated Zil, Shahra changed us to our fairy forms. And still in early morning, we were off.

Along the travel, Sonic explained to us that he and Shahra had also found another world ring--a green one, this time. Again, me and Zil exchanged glances. This journey was going by fast--two world rings already, and we were only on the third day. But I suppose with Sonic around, something like that would happen, wouldn't it?

"...Sonic...Sonic, I'm tired."

Sonic glanced at the glowing light purple ball beside his face before continuing to look forward, keeping a careful eye out for enemies. "We should be almost out--forest's gettin' thinner."

"I know...but I'm tired."

"Whaddya expect me to do?"

"I don't know...can I sit on your shoulder or something?"

Shahra seemed a little startled at the idea--it was evident in the way her color lit up for a split second. "Zil, his spines could easily get to you from there. When he's running, they do fly around wildly."

"Not when he reaches over 80 miles per hour."

Now it was my turn to be startled. I stared at Zil strangely--even though she couldn't see my expression. "Since when did you have a speedometer in your head?"

"I'm gifted~"

I rolled my eyes, restraining a laugh. But Shahra, on the other hand, seemed interested. "Really? You can truly tell what speed Sonic's running at?"

I shook my head, beginning to intervene. "Shahra, she's not meaning literally--"

"Yeah, I can tell."

I blinked at Zil. "Zil--"

"No, really, Crys! I'm being serious this time! I can tell how fast Sonic's going!"

Sonic smirked. "That's cool."

I blinked, ignoring the hedgehog for the moment. "Shahra, is that possible...?"

Shahra bobbed up and down in an undeniable 'yes.' "Actually, it is. Fairies can have special senses unique to only them--remember how we can sense enemies?" I nodded--then bobbed, remembering she couldn't see my body movements--and she continued. "In the same way, some fairies have special senses for other things. Fairies more adapt to the wind element can tell speed, air pressure, upcoming weather, and such. Fairies more adapt to the fire element can tell temperature, and rare ones have the ability of telepathy--or in some cases, just knowing if a person is telling the truth, or if they have harmful intentions to another. Fairies more adapt to the water element can tell depth, have an exceedingly strong sense of hearing, and can tell exactly where a sound is coming from. Fairies more in tune with earth can tell where an object is--no matter if they can see it or not or how far away it is, and in some very rare cases, can sense death or the birth of new life."

Now it was Sonic's turn to be startled. "Whoa...now we're talkin' ultra-cool."

Zil buzzed around in a circle. "So I'm more adapt to the wind? Sweet!" she cheered.

Shahra bobbed again. "Although not all fairies have these abilities; there are the neutral ones--such as myself."

I thought a moment. "...I supposed I'm neutral, too. It's not like I have heightened senses or anything after becoming a fairy." And I'll be honest--I was a bit disappointed. Being more particular to a certain element sounded exciting--and not to mention, special. I already knew I was practically a mediocre kind of person in this adventure--my shade of gold revealed to that. I had a small hope, then, about being in tune to an element; at least something like earth sounded really cool. How awesome would it be to acquire the sense of when someone was going to die--or when new life was going to come?

Shahra seemed to notice my little dismayed spirit, because next she said, "Don't be completely sorrowful about this. Never forget--you're an explorer, Crystal. Over time, you might develop an adaption to an element. It's happened before."

I smiled slightly. I was thankful for her encouragement--I really was. Shahra was like a doting mother. "But I can't leave you alone in the group of 'neutrals.' And really, I'm content with being that. It's okay."

Somehow, I could tell Shahra was smiling back. "I'm a ring genie. I can change my adaption to an element. Don't worry about leaving me alone in that field."

I sighed, and waved a hand--although she couldn't see. "Well...either way, it'll be okay. Whatever happens, happens. Element or no element."

Shahra buzzed in a circle around me comfortingly, before refocusing on travelling beside our hedgehog companion. I looked up at Zil, and couldn't tell if she was looking at me or not--but it felt like she was. Averting my glance, I looked on the path ahead as well, trying to keep my mind from focusing on my own self-pity. I tended to wallow in that too much. Way too much, especially on this journey.

Thankfully, Zil offered me the change of subject that I needed.

"So...Sonic, can I ride on your shoulder?"

-

**Author's Notes:** Da Cougar here. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I know it won't thrill all of you so much--and I apologize for that! I really do! But next chapter, our group will be out of Dinosaur Jungle and diving into Evil Foundry--Ifrit awaiting~ Wa-ha~ Fun fun fun...


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